JOHANNESBURG —
Despite the year-on-year drop, factory production rose 0.1% month on month in December.
Analysts had predicted a 2.5% drop in annual terms and a 0.5% month-on-month decline.
South African manufacturing, like other sectors, has been hit by the nation's continuing power blackouts caused by weakness in electricity production, especially by state-owned enterprise Eskom.
The drop in manufacturing also reflects economic slowing in the world's consuming nations.
