Pretoria, 29 September 2017 – The South African Revenue Service (SARS) today releases trade statistics for August 2017 recording a trade balance surplus of R5.94 billion. These statistics include trade data with Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS). The year-to-date (01 January to 31 August 2017) trade balance surplus of R43.45 billion is an improvement on the deficit for the comparable period in 2016 of R13.67 billion. Exports for the year-to-date grew by 5.8% whilst imports for the same period declined by 2.1%.