[imagesource: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp]

In recent days, the results of four separate statistical surveys were published by Statistics SA.

As you may have guessed from the headline, each made for grim reading, with Moneyweb saying the story being told was one of a “devastation of economic activity and of people’s ability to earn a living”.

Given how many countries around the world have suffered similarly, the data doesn’t come as a complete surprise, although the extent of the damage that has been done is cause for alarm.

Of the four industries that were surveyed –  the motor trade industry, tourist accommodation, the transport industry, and food and beverage sectors – it was tourism that suffered the most:

April and May saw near complete destruction, with bed nights sold declining 97% against a year earlier, as occupancy rates fell to less than 2%.

Total income in the tourism accommodation industry just about disappeared, falling from normal levels of around R2.2 billion per month to less than R55 million in April and R74 million in May

Compared to last April, the industry as a whole saw a 98,6% reduction in total income.

With regards to the motor industry, sales fell by 49% during the three months to end-June, when compared to the same quarter in 2019.

Focusing specifically on new and used cars, sales dropped by more than 90% during April in terms of year-on-year sales, although that number was closer to 5% in June.

The plight of the food and beverage sector has been well documented, and data from the Stats SA Food and Beverage survey (June 2020) shows the “total loss of income in the industry amounted to more than R12 billion in the three months to end-June”.

Finally, the transport industry saw a 26,8% drop in total income during the second quarter of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019, which included a 99,2% drop in the number of rail passenger journeys.

This week will see a number of other reports published, with similarly crippling numbers expected in the stats on liquidations and insolvencies, debt cases, and the building and construction industry.

[source:moneyweb]