Seven of the 10 industries tracked by Statistics South Africa shrank in the October-December period.
SOUTH Africa’s economy contracted 1.3% in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three months, as rolling power cuts hurt sectors like agriculture and mining, official data showed on Tuesday.
Seven of the 10 industries tracked by Statistics South Africa shrank in the October-December period.
Stats SA figures showed the agriculture sector shrank 3.3% quarter on quarter, mining 3.2%, finance 2.3%, trade 2.1% and manufacturing 0.9%. The construction sector grew 0.5%.
The data was worse than the third quarter’s revised 1.8% growth in quarter-on-quarter and seasonally-adjusted terms.
Analysts had predicted a 0.4% contraction in October-December.
Struggling state electricity utility Eskom escalated scheduled power cuts in the fourth quarter due to breakdowns at its coal-fired power plants, leaving households in the dark and hurting businesses of all sizes.
Gross domestic product grew 0.9% year on year in the fourth quarter, worse than forecasts for a 2.2% expansion.
The economy grew 2.0% in the 2022 calendar year.
– REUTERS
