The development and production of GDP flash estimates in a newly industrialised country: the case of South Africa

The experience accumulated from the development and production of a flash estimate of GDP as an official statistic at Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) is presented and discussed. This experience could inform national statistical organisations operating under similar statistical production constraints in other newly industrialised countries or elsewhere. The use of the flash estimate as an early indicator of business cycle slowdowns and upturns is also presented to demonstrate one possible by-product use of the flash estimate.