Statistics SA has rebased its gross domestic product data, adding new activities that could bring about revisions to past data.

The data — to be released on 24 November 24 — will give a more accurate picture of the country's economy, Statistics SA said.

"It's a routine process every five years — we're not preparing you for massive revision," said Statistics SA's deputy director general of economic statistics Rashad Cassim.

Statistics SA defines benchmarking as the process through which high frequency data that tracks short-term dynamics in the economy is reconciled with more accurate, but less frequent data.

It defines rebasing as the process during which the base year for the real estimates of national accounts is changed.

According to the agency, benchmarking and rebasing of estimates of national accounts is designed to improve their quality.

"It provides an opportunity to incorporate irregular and periodic datasets that became available since the previous benchmark project," said Joe de Beer, Stats SA's executive manager of national accounts.

"There will naturally be revisions to the components of GDP both in real and nominal terms ... these will have an impact on both the levels of GDP as well as the growth rates in GDP on an annual and on a quarterly basis."

New information, such as calculations of the "non-observed economy", would be included and there would be data on illegal trade in drugs, prostitution and abalone poaching, he said.

Nedbank economist Carmen Altenkirch said the exercise was necessary.

"Government has got to do it as it's international practice to do it very five years. We'd be sceptical if government didn't do it," she said.

She said there had been an outcry that consumer price inflation had not been revised as quickly as it should have been.

"My only concern is that the benchmarking and rebasing exercise might alter what actually happened, but we'll only see the figures on 24 November.

"But I think generally it's a very positive thing," she said. Stats SA said the 24 November publication would include GDP estimates from the third quarter of 2009 as well as revised quarterly, annual and regional estimates from the first quarter of 2002 to date, using 2005 rather than 2000 as the base year.

Sapa

Telkom vs Neotel The new kid on the block, Neotel, is giving fixed line operator Telkom a run for its money.

'Share Sexwale's wealth' Numsa says the immense wealth of Patrice Motsepe and Tokyo Sexwale must be nationalised.

Eskom's big fat lies Eskom called its application for a 45% electricity tariff hike a "smoothed" hike.