| Animals, Live | £71,771 |
| Articles of Food and Drink | 9,641,809 |
| Articles of Personal Use | 6,120,903 |
| Builders’ Materials | 1,245,609 |
| Drugs and Chemicals | 437,610 |
| Electrical Goods | 136,964 |
| Explosives and Weapons | 119,379 |
| Hardware, Cutlery, and Ironmongery | 1,276,041 |
| Household Requisites | 1,969,724 |
| Iron and Steel | 596,928 |
| Leather and Manufactures | 394,525 |
| Machinery, &c. | 859,685 |
| Paper, Books, &c. | 689,216 |
| Textile Manufactures | 2,104,245 |
| Vehicles and Vehicular Material | 968,210 |
| Other Articles | 1,943,465 |
| Goods by Parcels Post | 520,265 |
| Stores for Government | 2,498,983 |
| Total | £31,595,332 |
The purely British (i.e. the United Kingdom’s) share in this trade was as follows:
| Animals, Living | £29,306 |
| Arms, Ammunition, &c. | 143,697 |
| Articles of Food and Drink | 2,533,163 |
| Articles of Personal Use | 3,528,907 |
| Builders’ Materials, &c. | 175,078 |
| Drugs and Chemicals | 423,190 |
| Household Requisites | 1,600,763 |
| Ironmongery and Hardware | 275,245 |
| Leather and Manufactures | 1,762,438 |
| Machinery, Millwork, &c. | 1,210,151 |
| Metals and Manufactures | 1,762,438 |
| Oils, other than Essential | 55,076 |
| Paper and Stationery | 577,228 |
| Textile Manufactures | 2,387,666 |
| Vehicles and Parts | 635,153 |
| Vessels (Ships and Boats) | 23,214 |
| Wood and Timber | 108,034 |
| Miscellaneous Articles | 965,655 |
| Total | £20,648,529 |
It is not without instruction to those who are unaware of the potential character of South Africa’s buying capacity, the reasons for which will be more clearly set forth later on, to compare the amount spent on the purchase of oversea goods by the white and black population with those of our other colonies and India:—
| White Population. | Native Population. | Total Population. | British Exports to. £ | |
| Australia | 3,577,000 | 200,000 | 3,777,000 | 21,329,965 |
| Canada | 5,170,000 | 201,000 | 5,371,000 | 8,153,815 |
| India | 275,000 | 294,000,000 | 294,295,000 | 39,753,348 |
| New Zealand | 767,000 | 52,000 | 819,000 | 5,601,979 |
| South Africa | 1,007,000 | 3,000,000 | 4,007,000 | 20,326,006 |
| Per Head White. | Per Head Native. | Per Head Total. | |||||||
| £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | £ | s. | d. | |
| Australia | 5 | 19 | 0 | 106 | 12 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 0 |
| Canada | 1 | 11 | 6 | 40 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 |
| India | 144 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| New Zealand | 7 | 6 | 0 | 107 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 16 | 0 |
| South Africa | 20 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
In other words, with the exception of India, where the European population is not numerous, each white inhabitant in South Africa spends vastly more in proportion to its population than any of our other Colonies, or exactly £20, 3s. 7d. per head as against £7, 6s. for Australia, the next highest, and £1, 11s. 6d. for Canada, the lowest, or, with black and white combined, £5, 1s. 6d. per head of the total population, as against 2s. 8d. for India, £1, 10s. 4d. for Canada, £5, 13s. for Australia, and £6, 16s. for New Zealand. A reference to the above table clearly shows what an important customer the South African native is for oversea goods, his annual purchases amounting to £6, 15s. 6d., which it will be seen is even more per head than that of the Australian white population. This latter assumption is, of course, purely deductive, but it is in the main fairly accurate.
Not only this, but it will surprise many to learn that of the total British exports to our Colonies and India, South Africa is our third best market. Moreover, in certain classes of goods, specified below, she is also far and away our most important customer. For instance, of the total exports from the United Kingdom to our Colonies and dependencies, there were shipped in 1901:—
Boots and Shoes.