News / Building Bulletin

South African construction index expands

04 April 2024

Afrimat has released the findings of its Afrimat Construction Index (ACI) for the 4Q23. The ACI is a composite index of the level of activity within the South African building and construction sectors and is compiled by economist Dr Roelof Botha on behalf of Afrimat. According to Dr Botha, the lethargy of the economy as a whole during the fourth quarter of last year was evident in the construction sector, with five of the 10 constituent indicators of the ACI recording QoQ negative real growth rates and the ACI dipping by 1.2 per cent as a result.   “However, viewed YoY the ACI expanded and even outperformed the economy with three per cent real growth rate, compared to real GDP growth of 1.2 per cent. The YoY growth rate was mainly due to exceptionally strong performances by the indicators for employment and wholesale sales of construction materials.” Dr Botha says that the YoY basis expansion of the ACI is encouraging, especially against the background of the high cost of...