A 2015 social accounting matrix for South Africa

Abstract

This paper documents the construction of a South African Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for the year 2015. The SAM is built using a Statistics South Africa (Stats SA, 2018) Supply Table (ST) and Use Table (UT), National Accounts, and various household and labour market surveys. It provides a detailed representation of the South African economy and identifies 62 activities and 104 commodities; labour is disaggregated by education attainment level; and households by per capita expenditure deciles. Information on labour is drawn from the Statistics South Africa (StatsSA, 2017b Labour Market Dynamics (LMD) report using 2015 data from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey. Data on households is taken from the StatsSA (2017a) Living Conditions Survey (LCS) for 2014/15. The SAM identifies government, investment and foreign accounts. It is a useful database for conducting economy-wide impact assessments, including SAM-based multiplier analysis and computable general equilibrium (CGE) modelling.