Provincial Business Barometers

Limpopo	Western Cape	Kwazulu-Natal	Gauteng	Free State	Eastern Cape

What is a Provincial Business Barometer?

The "Provincial Business Barometer" is the brainchild of Economists.co.za. Each barometer is an index used to guage business activity (both per sector and in total) within a particular region on a montly basis.

This Business Barometers enables the user to make strategic business decisions on a provincial basis - allowing for a more focused strategy and allocation of resources.

Each province has its own all-encompassing Business Barometer giving a very quick overview of economic activity every single month.

Which provinces are covered?

At the moment, the business activity of Gauteng, Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Free State and Limpopo are indexed. The rest of the provinces' business barometers are to be rolled out very soon.

How is each Provincial Business Barometer calculated?

Each province has several "sector barometers", each measuring the business activity of the significant economic sectors of the province.

These sector barometers are then consolidated into a "growth index", which is an all-inclusive index that measures the overall business activity within the province. This growth index, however, does not take into account various relevant economic stresses that detract from the positive effects of growth in business activity.

These economic stresses consist of factors such as inflation and interest rates which are mainly measured by the province’s "stress index". The "growth index" of each province is then deflated by the "stress index" – which results in the "Provincial Business Barometer".

The province’s Business Barometer measures the overall business activity within that region, taking into account the various economic stresses that would be applicable in that economy during the month. This comprehensive information enables the user to have meaningful input in determining the business trends of a province.

Available Barometers

• Western Cape Barometer
• Kwazulu-Natal Barometer
• Gauteng Barometer
• Eastern Cape Barometer
• Free State Barometer