In 2020, South Africa’s 100 imported consumer products that generated the most spending totaled US$29.9 billion. That dollar amount represents 43.5% of the overall value of all South African imported goods ($68.7 billion).

The 5 most valuable consumer products imported into South Africa during 2020 were processed petroleum oils, phones, cars, medications and computers.

The total dollar amount for South Africa’s top 100 imported consumer products declined by -18.9% from 2019 to 2020, compared to a -22.1% drop for all South African imported goods for the year.

South Africa’s purchases of imported products–both overall and consumer–actually dropped at a much faster pace than the global average decline of -8.2% from 2019 to 2020 for all importing countries.

Among the top 100 consumer products imported by South Africa, 19 increased in total cost from 2019 to 2020 whereas 81 declined.

Changes in South African consumer demand for essential imports offer future opportunities for international suppliers who correctly anticipate which upward or downward trends will continue.

Consumer Products Defined

Economics educator BoyceWire defines a consumer product as a final good or end product that a business creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while imported crude oil is an intermediate good subject to further processing before being sold to end users.

Although there may be a few wealthy individual buyers, products like turbojets are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets are usually purchased by corporations. In contrast, it is common for a consumer to buy a motorcycle.

Types of Consumer Products

This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types.

Convenience Products are easy to access, non-durable, have relatively lower prices and therefore consumers frequently purchase them. Examples of convenience products are food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and soap.

Shopping Products are not as easily available, involve more time to make a buying decision, are durable and are not bought as often as most convenience products. A great example of a shopping product is a mobile phone where buying the wrong model is a much more expensive mistake than buying a disappointing loaf of bread.

Speciality Products describe another consumer product type. This grey area includes infrequently purchased, expensive, durable and sometimes rare items. Consumers may consider the product’s brand image when making their purchase decisions. Some examples of speciality products are gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, and branded refrigerators and dishwashers.

South Africa’s Most Valuable Imported Convenience Products

The list below showcases the most valuable imported convenience products on which buyers in South Africa spent the most. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented in descending order.

You can also peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2019 to 2020 by focusing on the percentages displayed to the right of each product name.

Processed petroleum oils: US$3,582,135,000 (down -20.4%)
Medications: $1,808,889,000 (up 2%)
Rice: $541,000,000 (up 20.3%)
Palm oil: $324,858,000 (up 20.1%)
Poultry meat: $312,424,000 (down -26.1%)
Sugar (cane or beet): $280,220,000 (down -7.6%)
Coal, solid fuels made from coal: $215,840,000 (down -52.2%)
Miscellaneous plastic items: $204,283,000 (down -14.9%)
Other food preparations: $196,480,000 (down -0.2%)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): $191,048,000 (down -37.4%)
Plastic packing goods, lids, caps: $168,505,000 (down -1.1%)
Sun/safflower/cotton-seed oil: $165,679,000 (down -6.7%)
Other organic cleaning preparations: $123,274,000 (up 0.7%)
Whole fish (frozen): $120,985,000 (down -28%)
Malt beer: $118,187,000 (down -51.3%)
Soya-bean oil: $116,311,000 (up 65.9%)
Chocolate, other cocoa preparations: $105,535,000 (down -4.9%)
Animal guts, bladders, stomachs: $98,153,000 (down -18.3%)
Fish, caviar (preserved/prepared): $96,686,000 (down -31%)
Coffee/tea extracts, concentrates: $93,888,000 (up 12.6%)
Waters with added sugar: $86,829,000 (up 2.2%)
Uncoated paper for writing/printing: $77,893,000 (down -42.1%)
Coffee: $77,211,000 (down -3%)
Provitamins, vitamins: $73,584,000 (up 11.7%)
Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries: $72,640,000 (down -12.5%)
Fruit and vegetable juices: $71,902,000 (down -36.8%)
Sowing seeds, fruits, spores: $63,706,000 (up 30.3%)
Cigars/cigarellos, cigarettes: $62,885,000 (down -38.4%)
Perfumes, toilet waters: $57,010,000 (down -27.4%)
Concentrated/sweetened milk, cream: $55,121,000 (up 21.3%)
Plastic wares (table, kitchen, toiletry): $54,877,000 (down -17.8%)
Miscellaneous preserved fruits: $54,557,000 (up 11.4%)

Convenience products led by the products listed above represent the African country’s second-most popular import product type attracting South Africa’s international spending behind shopping products but ahead of speciality goods.

Non-durable consumer products are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods. Convenience products are uniquely non-durable consumer products.

South Africa’s Most Valuable Imported Shopping Products

Below, the list highlights the most valuable imported shopping products on which buyers in South Africa spent the greatest amounts. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented from highest to lowest total amounts.

The percentages displayed to the right of each product name reveal the highest increases or decreases in South African spending on that specific type of shopping product from 2019 to 2020.

Phones: US$2,465,117,000 (down -20%)
Cars: $2,130,108,000 (down -45.9%)
Computers, optical readers: $1,441,554,000 (down -21%)
Automobile parts/accessories: $1,206,684,000 (down -26.7%)
Unused stamps including postage: $1,045,179,000 (down -7.5%)
Trucks: $508,842,000 (down -28%)
Miscellaneous textile items: $485,931,000 (up 866.7%)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: $476,039,000 (up 10.6%)
Printing machinery: $472,543,000 (down -30.3%)
Rubber tires (new): $471,708,000 (down -27.6%)
Electrical converters/power units: $347,643,000 (down -20.9%)
Insulated wire/cable: $291,749,000 (down -29.6%)
Lower-voltage switches, fuses: $284,800,000 (down -14.2%)
Men’s suits (unknit/non-crochet): $278,616,000 (down -16.9%)
Footwear (textile): $246,536,000 (down -25.3%)
Footwear (rubber or plastic): $234,903,000 (down -25%)
Tractors: $232,189,000 (down -8.7%)
Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): $229,240,000 (down -30.8%)
Women’s clothing (not knit/crochet): $224,899,000 (down -21.2%)
Orthopedic appliances: $217,999,000 (down -21.6%)
T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet): $170,806,000 (down -16.9%)
Footwear (leather): $166,924,000 (down -22.5%)
Unrecorded sound media: $165,593,000 (down -26.3%)
Computer parts, accessories: $159,601,000 (down -20%)
Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins: $141,502,000 (down -20.2%)
Microphones/headphones/amplifiers: $139,569,000 (down -14.2%)
Cases, handbags, wallets: $136,906,000 (down -34.2%)
Miscellaneous furniture: $130,532,000 (down -31.3%)
Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: $126,402,000 (up 88.5%)
Miscellaneous iron or steel items: $120,358,000 (down -13.8%)
Vulcanized rubber items: $118,535,000 (down -15.3%)
Sanitary towels, baby napkins/liners: $107,463,000 (down -10.7%)
Sports equipment: $106,110,000 (down -15.6%)
Models, puzzles, miscellaneous toys: $103,333,000 (down -36.5%)
Jerseys, pullovers (knit or crochet): $102,364,000 (down -18.2%)
Furniture base metal mountings: $102,306,000 (down -16.3%)
Trailers: $93,768,000 (down -13.7%)
Women’s clothing (knit or crochet): $92,920,000 (down -6%)
Other pharmaceutical preparations: $80,190,000 (down -19.6%)
Soap, organic surface-active goods: $78,837,000 (up 2.4%)
Video console games, table games: $76,170,000 (down -37.4%)
Shaving preparations, deodorants: $66,861,000 (down -18.6%)
Motorcycles: $66,729,000 (down -29.6%)
Printed books, brochures: $63,541,000 (down -37.6%)
Vulcanized rubber apparel/accessory: $61,961,000 (up 55.7%)
Paper containers, cellulose wadding: $61,695,000 (down -7.1%)
Prepared glues, adhesives: $59,959,000 (down -8.6%)
Women’s underwear (knit/crochet): $58,816,000 (down -20.3%)
Lubricant preparations, anti-rust: $57,703,000 (down -13.1%)
Men’s shirts (not knit or crochet): $57,133,000 (down -25.4%)
Calculators, cash registers, similar: $55,778,000 (down -8.6%)
Infant clothing (knit or crochet): $55,389,000 (down -2.4%)

Focusing on the scope of this analysis, shopping products is South Africa’s most popular category ahead of both convenience products and speciality items.

Shopping products equal over half (52) of the overall top 100 South African imported consumer goods.

Durable consumer products are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again. Note that shopping products and speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

South Africa’s Most Valuable Imported Speciality Products

Speciality products represent the category with the fewest entries among South Africa’s imports that attracted the country’s spending on imported consumer goods during 2020.

Selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level, the most valuable speciality items are listed in descending order below.

The percentage to the right of each product name reveal highest increases or decreases in 2020 compared to 2019.

Gold (unwrought): US$439,623,000 (up 33.8%)
Electric generating sets, converters: $406,193,000 (down -0.4%)
Diamonds (unmounted/unset): $395,923,000 (down -29.6%)
Electric storage batteries: $350,777,000 (up 15%)
Liquid pumps: $329,110,000 (down -18.9%)
Nitrogenous fertilizers: $275,294,000 (down -8.2%)
Electric water heaters, hair dryers: $245,559,000 (down -13.6%)
Dishwashing, clean/dry/fill machines: $213,334,000 (down -27.6%)
Refrigerators, freezers: $179,506,000 (down -23.4%)
Interchangeable hand/machine tools: $168,418,000 (up 16.3%)
Beauty/makeup/skin care: $155,805,000 (down -28.7%)
Air conditioners: $148,528,000 (down -26.9%)
Temperature-change machines: $123,557,000 (down -35.1%)
Potassic fertilizers: $118,307,000 (down -11.9%)
Fertilizer mixes: $103,107,000 (down -20.3%)
Washing machines: $69,615,000 (down -12.8%)

Like shopping products, speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Based on the product types identified in the sections above, 68 of South Africa ’s 100 highest-value consumer shopper plus speciality products are durable while the remaining 32 convenience products are classified as non-durable.

Overall Fastest-Growing Consumer Imports

Listed below are the top 10 consumer products imported into South Africa that experienced the highest percentage increases in spending from 2019 to 2020.

Miscellaneous textile items: Up 866.7% ($485.9 million)
Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: Up 88.5% ($126.4 million)
Soya-bean oil: Up 65.9% ($116.3 million)
Vulcanized rubber clothing and accessories: Up 55.7% ($62 million)
Gold: Up 33.8% ($439.6 million)
Sowing seeds, fruits, spores: Up 30.3% ($63.7 million)
Concentrated/sweetened milk, cream: Up 21.3% ($55.1 million)
Rice: Up 20.3% ($541 million)
Palm oil: Up 20.1% ($324.9 million)
Interchangeable hand/machine tools: Up 16.3% ($168.4 million)

Among the above top gainers, 5 items are durable goods that consumers can re-use over time. Drilling down, 3 of the durable items are shopping products that require a comparatively longer time to make a buying decision, while 2 top gainers are periodically purchased speciality items namely gold and interchangeable hand or machine tools.

The fastest-growing convenience products are 5 other goods, ranging from soya bean or palm oil to rice. Consumers typically consider these items as non-durable products commonly referred to as disposable goods and therefore are used only once.

Overall Worst-Declining Consumer Imports

South Africa’s spending on the following 10 items decreased at the greatest pace from 2019 to 2020.

Coal, solid fuels made from coal: Down -52.2% ($215.8 million)
Malt beer: Down -51.3% ($118.2 million)
Cars: Down -45.9% ($2.1 billion)
Uncoated paper for writing/printing: Down -42.1% ($77.9 million)
Cigars, cigarellos, cigarettes: Down -38.4% ($62.9 million)
Printed books, brochures: Down -37.6% ($63.5 million)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): Down -37.4% ($191 million)
Video console games, table games: Down -37.4% ($76.2 million)
Fruit and vegetable juices: Down -36.8% ($71.9 million)
Models, puzzles, miscellaneous toys: Down -36.5% ($103.3 million)

Six among the South Africa’s top 10 declining imports are non-durable convenience products consumed one time only led by coal, beer and uncoated paper for writing or printing.

The remaining 4 leading import decliners are shopping products that normally require more time for shoppers to make buying decisions. Purchases under the shopping products category are more likely to be deferred than convenience products Examples of these shopping goods are cars, printed books or brochures, video console games and table games, as well as models, puzzles and other miscellaneous toys.

Key Suppliers by Country

This analysis reveals competitive suppliers that target South Africa’s demand for its top 5 consumer import products.

South Africa’s biggest imported consumer product by value is processed petroleum oils. South Africa’s 4 other leading consumer imports are phones, cars, computers, and automobile parts or accessories.

Below, you will find major supplying countries for South Africa’s imported:

Processed petroleum oils: United Arab Emirates (21.1% of total), Oman (17.6%), India (16.6%), Saudi Arabia (11.1%), Netherlands (4.5%), Singapore (4.4%), Malaysia (3.3%), Belgium (3.1%), Italy (2.6%) and Bahrain (2.3%).

Phones: China (63.4% of total), Vietnam (14.5%), India (5.4%), Hong Kong (2.3%), Taiwan (2.1%), Mexico (1.9%), United States (1.7%) and Malaysia (1.6%).

Cars: India (23.1% of total), Germany (21.3%), Japan (13.3%), Spain (7.6%), China (4.4%), United Kingdom (also 4.4%), Romania (3.4%), Slovakia (3.1%), South Korea (2.9%) and United States (also 2.9%).

Computers: China (66.9% of total), Poland (5.7%), Czech Republic (5.5%), United States (4.6%), Germany (2.3%), Thailand (1.9%), Mexico (1.7%), Vietnam (1.4%), Taiwan (1.3%) and Hungary (also 1.3%).

Automobile parts or accessories: Germany (22.7% of total), China (14.7%), United States (11.8%), Thailand (7.5%), Japan (5.7%), India (2.9%), France (also 2.9%), Spain (2.8%), Poland (also 2.8%) and Mexico (2.7%).

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: South Africa Economy.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Trading Economics, South Africa Consumer Spending.

Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets.

World’s Top Exports, South Africa’s Top 10 Imports.