South Africa GDP Growth Rate 1993-2018 | Data | Chart | Calendar

The South African economy advanced an annualized 3.1 percent on quarter in the last three months of 2017, following an upwardly revised 2.3 percent rise in the previous period and beating market expectations of 1.8 percent. It is the strongest growth rate in six quarters, mainly due to a robust gain in agriculture, a rebound in internal trade and a faster increase in manufacturing. GDP Growth Rate in South Africa averaged 2.87 percent from 1993 until 2017, reaching an all time high of 7.60 percent in the fourth quarter of 1994 and a record low of -6.10 percent in the first quarter of 2009.

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South Africa GDP Growth Strongest Since 2016

The South African economy advanced an annualized 3.1 percent on quarter in the last three months of 2017, following an upwardly revised 2.3 percent rise in the previous period and beating market expectations of 1.8 percent. It is the strongest growth rate in six quarters, mainly due to a robust gain in agriculture, a rebound in internal trade and a faster increase in manufacturing.

Agriculture made the largest upward contribution to GDP growth, up by 37.5 percent, following a 41.1 percent jump in Q3, mainly due to higher production of animal products. Other positive contributions came from: trade, catering and accomodation (4.8 percent compared to -0.1 percent), namely wholesale, retail and motor trade; manufacturing (4.3 percent compared to 3.7 percent), namely food and beverages, petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products; basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery. Also, strong growth was reported for; finance, real estate and business services (2.5 percent compared to 1.9 percent), namely financial intermediation and auxiliary activities; transport, storage and communication (2.8 percent compared to 0.8 percent), namely land freight transportation and communication services; government services (1.4 percent compared to 1.1 percent); and electricity, gas water (3.3 percent compared to -6.1 percent). On the other hand, contraction were seen for mining (-4.4 percent compared to 6.2 percent), largely due to lower production of gold and platinum group metals; and construction (-1.4 percent compared to -1.2 percent), due to both residential and non-residential buildings.

Year-on-year, the GDP grew 1.5 percent, following an upwardly revised 1.3 percent growth in Q3 and beating forecasts of 1.4 percent. It is the highest growth rate since the first quarter of 2015.

Considering full 2017, the GDP advanced 1.3 percent, above 0.6 percent in 2016. A rebound was seen in agriculture, fishing and forestry (17.7 percent compared to -10.2 percent in 2016) and in mining and quarrying (47.6 percent compared to -4.2 percent). In contrast, contraction was observed in trade, catering and accomodation (-0.6 percent compared to 1.7 percent), manufacturing (-0.2 percent compared to 0.9 percent) and construction (-0.3 percent compared to 1.1 percent).

Statistics South Africa | Joana Taborda | joana.taborda@tradingeconomics.com
3/6/2018 11:39:30 AM

Recent Releases

South Africa GDP Growth Slows to 2.0% in Q3
The South African economy expanded an annualized 2.0 percent on quarter in the three months to September of 2017, easing from a 2.8 percent expansion in the previous quarter and beating market expectations of a 1.5 percent rise. The largest upward contribution in the GDP was the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry, mainly due to higher production of field crops and horticultural products.
Published on 2017-12-05

South Africa GDP Growth Beats Expectations in Q2
The South African economy expanded an annualized 2.5 percent on quarter in the three months to June of 2017, ending two quarters of contraction and beating market expectations of a 2.1 percent rise. It is the highest growth rate in a year with agriculture, forestry and fishing making the largest upward contribution, namely field crops and horticultural products.
Published on 2017-09-05

South African Economy Enters Recession In Q1
The South African economy unexpectedly contracted an annualized 0.7 percent on quarter in the first three months of 2017, following a 0.3 percent drop in the previous period and compared to market expectations of a 0.9 percent expansion. It is the first recession since 2009 as both trade and manufacturing recorded negative growth rates.
Published on 2017-06-06

South African GDP Unexpectedly Shrinks 0.3% in Q4
The South African economy contracted an annualized 0.3 percent on quarter in the three months to December of 2016, compared to an upwardly revised 0.4 percent growth in the previous quarter and missing market consensus of a 0.5 percent expansion. It was the first contraction since the March quarter of 2016 driven by mining and quarrying and manufacturing industries.
Published on 2017-03-07

Calendar	GMT		Actual	Previous	Consensus	TEForecast
2017-09-05	09:30 AM	GDP Growth Rate QoQ	2.5%	-0.6%	2.1%	1.5%
2017-12-05	09:30 AM	GDP Growth Rate QoQ	2.0%	2.8%	1.5%	1.1%
2018-03-06	09:30 AM	GDP Growth Rate QoQ	3.1%	2.3%	1.8%	1.5%
2018-06-05	09:30 AM	GDP Growth Rate QoQ		3.1%		2.5%
2018-09-04	09:30 AM	GDP Growth Rate QoQ				2%
2018-12-04	09:30 AM	GDP Growth Rate QoQ				1.5%

South Africa GDP	Last	Previous	Highest	Lowest	Unit
GDP Growth Rate	3.10	2.30	7.60	-6.10	percent	[+]
GDP Annual Growth Rate	1.50	1.30	7.10	-2.60	percent	[+]
GDP	294.84	317.41	416.42	7.58	USD Billion	[+]
GDP Constant Prices	3157028.00	3133267.30	3157028.00	565040.00	ZAR Million	[+]
Gross National Product	3129523.00	3085606.00	3129523.00	504385.00	ZAR Million	[+]
Gross Fixed Capital Formation	622124.80	611153.80	652624.20	73065.00	ZAR Million	[+]
GDP per capita	7504.30	7605.40	7627.90	4543.60	USD	[+]
GDP per capita PPP	12260.20	12425.30	12462.00	9014.30	USD	[+]
GDP From Agriculture	84616.92	78139.35	84616.92	33530.55	ZAR Million	[+]
GDP From Construction	108677.89	109065.26	109909.36	14702.00	ZAR Million	[+]
GDP From Manufacturing	389516.73	385425.60	391090.40	228221.00	ZAR Million	[+]
GDP From Mining	235157.97	237834.29	251119.50	214553.50	ZAR Million	[+]
GDP From Public Administration	478705.47	477036.27	478705.47	90907.00	ZAR Million	[+]
GDP From Services	639135.08	635144.78	639135.08	66256.00	ZAR Million	[+]
GDP From Transport	270593.36	268728.82	270593.36	89068.60	ZAR Million	[+]
GDP From Utilities	65211.74	64689.81	70556.22	46746.92	ZAR Million	[+]

South Africa GDP Growth Rate

South Africa is the second largest economy in Africa. The country is rich in natural resources and is a leading producer of platinum, gold, chromium and iron. From 2002 to 2008, South Africa grew at an average of 4.5 percent year-on-year, its fastest expansion since the establishment of democracy in 1994. However, in recent years, successive governments have failed to address structural problems such as the widening gap between rich and poor, low-skilled labour force, high unemployment rate, deteriorating infrastructure, high corruption and crime rates. As a result, since the recession in 2008, South Africa growth has been sluggish and below African average. This page provides - South Africa GDP Growth Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news. South Africa GDP Growth Rate - actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases - was last updated on May of 2018.

	Actual	Previous	Highest	Lowest	Dates	Unit	Frequency
	3.10	2.30	7.60	-6.10	1993 - 2017	percent	Quarterly

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GDP growth rate by Country

Country	Last		Previous	Highest	Lowest
United States	2.30	Mar/18	2.9	16.9	-10	%	Quarterly
India	1.80	Dec/17	1.8	5.4	-1.7	%	Quarterly
Turkey	1.80	Dec/17	1.3	5.6	-5.2	%	Quarterly
China	1.40	Mar/18	1.6	2.4	1.3	%	Quarterly
Mexico	1.10	Mar/18	0.9	3.2	-5.7	%	Quarterly
South Korea	1.10	Mar/18	-0.2	7.8	-7	%	Quarterly
Spain	0.70	Mar/18	0.7	1.6	-1.6	%	Quarterly
Switzerland	0.60	Dec/17	0.7	2.3	-1.6	%	Quarterly
Netherlands	0.50	Mar/18	0.8	1.7	-3.2	%	Quarterly
Australia	0.40	Dec/17	0.7	4.4	-2	%	Quarterly
Canada	0.40	Dec/17	0.4	3.33	-2.3	%	Quarterly
Euro Area	0.40	Mar/18	0.7	1.3	-2.9	%	Quarterly
France	0.30	Mar/18	0.7	7.7	-5	%	Quarterly
Germany	0.30	Mar/18	0.6	4	-4.5	%	Quarterly
Italy	0.30	Mar/18	0.3	6	-2.8	%	Quarterly
Brazil	0.10	Dec/17	0.2	3.6	-4.1	%	Quarterly
United Kingdom	0.10	Mar/18	0.4	5	-2.7	%	Quarterly
Japan	-0.20	Mar/18	0.1	3.2	-4.9	%	Quarterly
Russia	-0.38	Dec/17	0.04	4.1	-5.4	%	Quarterly
Indonesia	-0.42	Mar/18	-1.7	4.01	-3.57	%	Quarterly