South Africa’s real GDP contracted by 1,3% in the second quarter of 2015, Statistics South Africa announced on Tuesday.
“The economy has performed negatively in second quarter of 2015,” said statistician-general Pali Lehohla.
Real GDP increased by 1,2% year-on-year and 1,6% for the first six months of 2015, but Lehohla said the country’s National Development Plan (NDP) of reaching 6% continuously was far off.
“We are not making it to the NDP targets,” he said. “Those people who set those targets must sit up and say what they are going to do.”
The main contributors to the decrease in economic activity for the second quarter of 2015 were the manufacturing industry (contributing -0,8 of a percentage point), the mining and quarrying industry (contributing -0,5 of a percentage point) and the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry (contributing -0,4 of a percentage point).
The seasonally adjusted real annualised value added by the primary and secondary sectors recorded decreases of 9,3% and 4,7% respectively, while the tertiary sector recorded an increase of 1,1% during the second quarter of 2015.
Nominal GDP values for second quarter was R991bn, which was R26bn less than first quarter. — Fin24
