Pretoria, 28 February 2020 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for January 2020 recording a trade deficit of R1.87 billion. These statistics include trade data with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN). The year-to-date (01 January to 31 January 2020) trade deficit of R1.87 billion is an improvement from the R12.61 billion deficit for the comparable period in 2019. Exports decreased by 14.1% year-on-year whilst imports for the same period showed an increase of 1.8%.