# FNB Senior Economist Handa Sithole says manufacturing production remained weak towards the end of the third quarter of 2026. Manufacturing output contracted by 3.5-percent year-on-year in September, following a 4.1 percent decline in August. The latest figure was also weaker than market expectations, which had forecast a contraction of 2-percent. Sithole says the monthly production figures suggest manufacturing output expanded by approximately 1 percent quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter, recovering from a 1.6 percent contraction in the previous quarter.
South Africa’s latest manufacturing production figures weaker than market expectations