Graph and download economic data for Business Tendency Surveys: Composite Business Confidence: Economic Activity: Construction for South Africa (BCCICP02ZAQ460S) from Q1 1969 to Q3 2025 about business sentiment, composite, South Africa, construction, and business.

Graph and download economic data for Composite Leading Indicators: Composite Business Confidence Amplitude Adjusted for South Africa (BSCICP03ZAM665S) from Jun 1974 to Dec 2023 about business sentiment, composite, South Africa, business, and manufacturing.

Graph and download economic data for Business Tendency Surveys for Manufacturing: Confidence Indicators: Composite Indicators: European Commission and National Indicators for South Africa (DISCONTINUED) (BSCICP02ZAQ460N) from Q2 1974 to Q4 2014 about business sentiment, composite, South Africa, business, and manufacturing.

Graph and download economic data for Leading Indicators OECD: Component Series: Business Tendency Survey: Demand or Orders Inflow: Original Series for South Africa (DISCONTINUED) (LOCOBDORZAQ460N) from Q1 1970 to Q1 2017 about business sentiment, leading indicator, South Africa, and orders.

Graph and download economic data for Business Tendency Surveys (Manufacturing): Confidence Indicators: Composite Indicators: National Indicator for South Africa (BSCICP02ZAQ460S) from Q2 1974 to Q3 2025 about business sentiment, composite, South Africa, business, and manufacturing.

Abstract

The Future of Business Survey is a new source of information on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Launched in February 2016, the monthly survey - a partnership between Facebook, OECD, and The World Bank - provides a timely pulse on the economic environment in which businesses operate and who those businesses are to help inform decision-making at all levels and to deliver insights that can help businesses grow. The Future of Business Survey provides a perspective from newer and long-standing digitalized businesses and provides a unique window into a new mobilized economy.

Policymakers, researchers and businesses share a common interest in the environment in which SMEs operate, as well their outlook on the future, not least because young and innovative SMEs in particular are often an important source of considerable economic and employment growth. Better insights and timely information about SMEs improve our understanding of economic trends, and can provide new insights that can further stimulate and help these businesses grow.

To help provide these insights, Facebook, OECD and The World Bank have collaborated to develop a monthly survey that attempts to improve our understanding of SMEs in a timely and forward-looking manner. The three organizations share a desire to create new ways to hear from businesses and help them succeed in the emerging digitally-connected economy. The shared goal is to help policymakers, researchers, and businesses better understand business sentiment, and to leverage a digital platform to provide a unique source of information to complement existing indicators.

With more businesses leveraging online tools each day, the survey provides a lens into a new mobilized, digital economy and, in particular, insights on the actors: a relatively unmeasured community worthy of deeper consideration and considerable policy interest.

Geographic coverage

Argentina Australia Belgium Brazil Canada Colombia Egypt France Germany Ghana India Indonesia Ireland Israel Italy Kenya Mexico Nigeria Pakistan Philippines (the) Poland Portugal Russian Federation (the) South Africa Spain Taiwan Turkey United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the) United States of America (the) Viet Nam

Analysis unit

The study describes small and medium-sized enterprises.

Universe

The target population consists of SMEs that have an active Facebook business Page and include both newer and longer-standing businesses, spanning across a variety of sectors. With more businesses leveraging online tools each day, the survey provides a lens into a new mobilized, digital economy and, in particular, insights on the actors: a relatively unmeasured community worthy of deeper consideration and considerable policy interest.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Twice a year in over 97 countries, the Facebook Survey Team sends the Future of Business to admins and owners of Facebook-designated small business pages. When we share data from this survey, we anonymize responses to all survey questions and only share country-level data publicly. To achieve better representation of the broader small business population, we also weight our results based on known characteristics of the Facebook Page admin population.

A random sample of firms, representing the target population in each country, is selected to respond to the Future of Business Survey each month.

Mode of data collection

Internet [int]

Research instrument

The survey includes questions about perceptions of current and future economic activity, challenges, business characteristics and strategy. Custom modules include questions related to regulation, access to finance, digital payments, and digital skills. The full questionnaire is available for download.

Response rate

Response rates to online surveys vary widely depending on a number of factors including survey length, region, strength of the relationship with invitees, incentive mechanisms, invite copy, interest of respondents in the topic and survey design.

Note: Response rates are calculated as the number of respondents who completed the survey divided by the total number of SMEs invited.

Sampling error estimates

Any survey data is prone to several forms of error and biases that need to be considered to understand how closely the results reflect the intended population. In particular, the following components of the total survey error are noteworthy:

Sampling error is a natural characteristic of every survey based on samples and reflects the uncertainty in any survey result that is attributable to the fact that not the whole population is surveyed.

Other factors beyond sampling error that contribute to such potential differences are frame or coverage error (sampling frame of page owners does not include all relevant businesses but also may include individuals that don't represent businesses), and nonresponse error.

Note that the sample is meant to reflect the population of businesses on Facebook, not the population of small businesses in general. This group of digitized SMEs is itself a community worthy of deeper consideration and of considerable policy interest. However, care should be taken when extrapolating to the population of SMEs in general. Moreover, future work should evaluate the external validity of the sample. Particularly, respondents should be compared to the broader population of SMEs on Facebook, and the economy as a whole.

Graph and download economic data for Business Tendency Surveys for Manufacturing: Production: Future Tendency: European Commission and National Indicators for South Africa (DISCONTINUED) (BSPRFT02ZAQ460N) from Q4 1989 to Q3 2013 about business sentiment, South Africa, business, production, and manufacturing.

Graph and download economic data for Business Tendency Surveys for Manufacturing: Orders Inflow: Tendency: European Commission Indicator for South Africa (DISCONTINUED) (BSOITE02ZAQ460N) from Q1 1970 to Q4 2013 about business sentiment, South Africa, orders, business, and manufacturing.

Graph and download economic data for Business Tendency Surveys for Retail Trade: Confidence Indicators: Composite Indicators: European Commission and National Indicators for South Africa (DISCONTINUED) (BRCICP02ZAQ460N) from Q1 1990 to Q4 2013 about business sentiment, composite, South Africa, retail trade, business, sales, and retail.

Graph and download economic data for Business Tendency Surveys for Construction: Business Situation Activity: Present: European Commission Indicator for South Africa (DISCONTINUED) (BCBUCT02ZAQ460N) from Q1 1990 to Q2 2013 about business sentiment, South Africa, construction, and business.

Graph and download economic data for Business Tendency Surveys: Rate of Capacity Utilisation: Economic Activity: Manufacturing: Current for South Africa (BSCURT02ZAQ160S) from Q1 1986 to Q3 2025 about business sentiment, capacity, South Africa, business, manufacturing, and rate.

Graph and download economic data for Business Tendency Surveys for Retail Trade: Employment: Future Tendency: European Commission and National Indicators for South Africa (DISCONTINUED) (BREMFT02ZAQ460N) from Q4 1989 to Q3 2013 about business sentiment, South Africa, retail trade, business, sales, retail, and employment.