South Africa's mining output fell 12.7% year on year in August 2026, according to data published on Tuesday, October 13, by Statistics South Africa. The decline deepened from the 7.5% drop recorded in July.
Platinum group metals posted the steepest fall, with output down 22.5% and a negative contribution of 6.1 percentage points to the headline index. Coal fell 11.7%, contributing 3 points, and iron ore fell 16.2%, for 2.4 points.
Seasonally adjusted, mining output fell 5.4% between July and August. It had already declined by 1.9% in July, after a 0.4% increase in June. Over the three months ended in August, activity fell 5.2% compared with the previous three months.
Sales of minerals at current prices also fell 15.1% year on year. Gold recorded the steepest decline in value, at 48.6%, ahead of iron ore at 23%, platinum group metals at 7.5% and coal at 7.8%. These figures measure nominal sales values, not just volumes extracted.
The mining contraction follows a 4.3% year-on-year decline in South African manufacturing output in August. The mining and manufacturing data cover the start of the third quarter, but are not yet enough to establish the trajectory of the economy as a whole over the period.