Mining production in South Africa plunged by 12.7% year-on-year in August 2026, following a revised 7% decline in July. This was the fourth consecutive monthly contraction and the sharpest annual fall since October 2022. The downturn was driven mainly by lower output of PGMs (-22.5%), iron ore (-16.2%), and coal (-11.7%).
Substantial decreases were also recorded in the production of diamonds (-41.1%), nickel (-32.2%), other metallic minerals (-12.5%), other non-metallic minerals (-11.2%), copper (-7.3%), and gold (-5.7%).
On a seasonally adjusted month-on-month basis, mining production fell by 5.4% in August, deepening from a 1.9% decline in the previous month. Over the three months to August 2026, mining output contracted by 5.2% compared with the preceding three-month period.
