The facts
Reuters reported that the base year changed from 2015 to 2022 and that the exercise incorporated activities including self-generated electricity, e-hailing and previously unmeasured mining and manufacturing. [1]
In a different comparison, IOL reported that the revised 2022 level is R6.99 trillion, 4.9% higher than previously measured. That percentage concerns 2022, not the 2025 figures above. [2]
Nominal GDP includes price changes. A higher estimate of the economy’s value must not be presented as an equivalent real growth rate. [2]
IOL’s separate R8.01 trillion calculation for 2025 is explicitly a modelled counterfactual. It is not the official revised R8.04 trillion estimate reported by Reuters. [1][2]
Still unconfirmed
- The original complete Stats SA rebased tables were not retrieved during this check; the stated figures are attributed to the two original news reports and retain their different comparison years.
Sources
References support the numbered facts above. Source checks: 29 Oct 2026, 12:47 UTC.
Two separately owned reports establish the completed rebasing. Reuters' current 2025 estimate is kept separate from IOL's 2022 benchmark and its hypothetical forward calculation. An inaccessible Bloomberg syndication is not cited as read.
- South African economy 5% bigger after rebasing, moving further ahead of Nigeria
Reuters, via MarketScreener · Reporting · 29 Oct 2026
Original Reuters report by Kopano Gumbi, updated at 07:16 EDT. The current body gives 2025 nominal GDP as R8.04 trillion versus R7.64 trillion; the older URL still contains 4.9%.
- SA’s R371bn GDP gap exposes the limits of headline growth
IOL / Independent Media · Reporting · 29 Oct 2026
Original report by Nicola Mawson, separately owned from Thomson Reuters. It describes the 2022 rebasing and clearly labels its own forward calculation a counterfactual, not an official revised series.