South Africa has moved beyond the colonial stage of simply being an exporter of commodities to the European Union (EU).
While gold and other primary products accounted for nearly 70% of exports in 1970, the share of manufactured goods had risen to over 49% by 2022, according to the latest statistics available on the United Nations COMTRADE database.
The largest commodity category is pearls, precious stones and coins at $5.16 billion or 19% of the $26.96bn total of SA exports to the EU.
Platinum made up the bulk of the value at $3.03bn, followed by diamonds at $629 million. Gold exports totalled $446m in value.
Vehicle exports are the next-biggest category, at $4.54bn or 17% of export value.
They are, however, 36% down on the high of $719bn in 2019.
Passenger cars made up the bulk of the value, at $3.07bn followed by commercial vehicles at $133bn.
Third highest is parts and accessories at $134m.Agricultural exports account for 13% of the value or $3.05bn – which is larger than the platinum share.
Fresh fruit exports declined from a high of $225bn in 2018 to $1.75bn in 2022.
- Read the full article in our Freight Features edition on "Europe."
