Economy brought down by mining and manufacturing, while some sectors brought in only small gains.
In the third quarter of 2019 up to end-September, South Africa’s GDP contracted by 0.6 percent.
StatsSA listed the largest contributors to this negative growth as the mining and quarrying industry, which decreased by 6.1 percent, and contributed -0.5 of a percentage point to GDP growth.
The manufacturing industry also experienced a 3.9 percent decreased, and thus also contributed -0.5 of a percentage point to the GDP growth.
Slightly more positive news on the trade, catering and accommodation front, with that industry showing an increase of 2.6 percent, contributing 0.4 of a percentage point to GDP growth.
Finance, real estate and business services also showed a slight increase of 1.6 percent, amounting to 0.3 of a percentage point in GDP growth.
This is the second time in 2019 that South Africa’s economy has contracted, and the fourth time over the past seven quarters. The negative growth in this quarter and ongoing moribund GDP performance are attributed to low business confidence, policy uncertainty, load shedding and the poor performance of state-owned enterprises.
