Stats SA’s Provincial Gross Domestic Product report (released 29 October 2026) shows manufacturing contributed R170.03 billion to KZN’s economy in 2025, down from R173.04 billion in 2024. That is a decline of roughly R3.01 billion, or 1.74%, measured at current prices. Theserender_inline_citation𝔭citation_id سعد96
These figures measure the economic value generated by manufacturing activities and are not adjusted for inflation in the way described. They do not mean factories produced R3 billion fewer physical goods.
Manufacturing’s share of the provincial economy also fell: from 15% in 2023 to 14.5% in 2024 and 13.6% in 2025 — a drop of 1.4 percentage points in two years. The broader KZN economy still grew 0.7% in real terms in 2025 (below the national 0.9% and behind Western Cape, Gauteng and Limpopo).
KZN remains South Africa’s second-largest manufacturing province (about 18% of national manufacturing value added in 2025, behind Gauteng’s ~40% and just ahead of the Western Cape’s 17%). The sector supports linked industries such as logistics, engineering, transport and suppliers.
National context is weaker: manufacturing production was down 4.3% year-on-year in August 2026 and 1.7% over the first eight months of 2026, remaining roughly 10% below 2019 levels. Provincial production data is not directly comparable on a monthly basis.
Some major players continue to invest. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau visited Bell Equipment and Mondi South Africa operations in October 2026. Bell employs more than 3,000 people, sources from over 900 local suppliers (including 500+ in KZN), and is expanding. Mondi is advancing a R3 billion biomass boiler project at Richards Bay (planned commissioning June 2027) that has already supported over 900 project jobs, though it faces rising import competition in pulp and paper.
The article notes that the provincial figures do not break down the decline by municipality or subsector, and clearer employment trends are expected from the next Quarterly Labour Force Survey (scheduled for 10 November 2026). Prolonged manufacturing weakness can ripple into related business-to-business activity across centres such as Durban, Richards Bay, Pietermaritzburg and Newcastle.
