Statistics South Africa’s newly released data shows that the country’s economy contracted by 0.1 percentage point in the first quarter of the year mainly due to rolling blacks.
Contributions to the negative performance in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) came from a decrease in the construction, mining and quarrying, and manufacturing industries.
The data shows that six out of ten industries of the economy performed poorly in the first quarter.
🧵 South Africa’s #economy contracted by 0,1% in Q1:2024.
#StatsSA #GDP pic.twitter.com/nNwkJoaotw— Stats SA (@StatsSA) June 4, 2024
The motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment division and the basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery division made the largest negative contributions to the decrease in the first quarter.
The mining and quarrying industry decreased by 2,3% in the first quarter, contributing -0,1 of a percentage point.
Decreased economic activities were reported for platinum group metals (PGMs), coal, gold and manganese ore.
The construction industry decreased by 3,1% in the first quarter, contributing -0,1 of a percentage point.
Decreases were reported for residential buildings and construction works.
The agriculture, forestry and fishing industry increased by 13,5% in the first quarter of 2024, contributing 0,3 of a percentage point. This was primarily due to increased economic activities reported for horticulture products.
