Rwanda GDP Growth Slows to 7.8% in Q1 2025

2025-06-20 15:22 By Dongting Liu 1 min. read

Rwanda's economy expanded by 7.8% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, easing from an 8.0% increase in the previous quarter and marking the slowest pace since Q3 2023.

The deceleration was largely attributed to a notable slowdown in the services and agriculture sectors.

The services sector expanded by 9% (vs. 11% in Q4), marking its weakest growth in six quarters, mainly due to sharp slowdowns in wholesale & retail trade (14% vs 23%) and transport (4% vs 8%).

Meanwhile, agricultural output grew 2% (vs. 3%), the slowest since Q2 2023, mainly due to a decline in food crop production (-1% vs. 2%).

In contrast, industrial activity accelerated to 9% (vs. 7%), marking its fastest growth in three quarters.

This was supported by continued gains in manufacturing (7% vs. 3%) and construction (13% vs. 9%), while mining and quarrying output (-3% vs. 5%) contracted, reversing previous growth.

On a quarterly basis, GDP shrank by 1.0%, compared with a 4.1% expansion in Q4 2024.



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