South Africa’s economy contracted by 2% in the first quarter of this year. Figures by Statistic South Africa indicate that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell as a result of significantly low production output in the mining, manufacturing and construction industries.
The South African economy recorded its third consecutive quarter of economic decline, falling by 2,0% in Q1:2020.#StatsSA #GDP #economy pic.twitter.com/ahJRFtCkTF
— Stats SA (@StatsSA) June 30, 2020
Figures by Statistic South Africa indicate that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell as a result of significantly low production output in the mining, manufacturing and construction industries.
Economic growth is expected to decline further as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Investment analyst Izak Odendaal says, “These numbers were a little bit better than the market expected but let’s be honest, the first quarter is old news. The real blow to the economy happened in the 2nd quarter. We know the country went into lockdown on the 27th March, which was right at the end of the first quarter.”
“Most of the first-quarter data was pre-COVID-19 and reflect on-going weakness in the SA economy and remember that we had recurring load shedding in the quarter. Those manufacturing and mining numbers were victims of load shedding.”
In the video below, Odendaal explains why the GDP contracted:
Below is the full report from StatsSA:
