Pretoria, 29 November 2019 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for October 2019 recording a trade surplus of R3.09 billion. These statistics include trade data with Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and Namibia (BELN). The year-to-date (01 January to 31 October 2019) trade surplus R5.32 billion is an improvement from the R3.70 billion deficit for the comparable period in 2018. Exports increased by 2.8% year-on-year whilst imports for the same period showed a decrease of 4.3%.