SA Economy Shrinks 2.2 pct, Weighed down by Agriculture, Mining, Manufacturing

Posted on June 6th, 2018
Biz News

5 strategies to survive a zero growth economySouth Africa’s economy contracted by 2.2 percent in the first quarter of 2018, after growing by 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday.

The statistics agency said the largest contributors to the decline in gross domestic product (GDP) were the agriculture, mining and manufacturing industries.

The agriculture, forestry and fishing industry tumbled by 24.2 percent, contributing -0.7 percentage points to the overall GDP number, while mining and quarrying decreased by 9.9 percent, accounting for -0.8 percentage points.

The manufacturing industry decreased by 6.4 percent and contributed -0.8 percentage point to GDP for the first three months of the year.

The main positive contributions came from finance, real estate and business services and government. (via African News Agency)