South African Economy Expands for 4th Quarter

2025-12-02 10:28 By Luisa Carvalho 1 min. read

The South African economy advanced by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter in Q3 2025, following an upwardly revised 0.9% growth in the prior period and marking the fourth consecutive quarter of expansion.

Nine out of ten industries registered growth, with trade (+1% vs +1.4% in Q2) contributing the most, alongside mining (+2.3% vs +3.5%), agriculture (+1.1% vs +2.5%) and finance, real estate and business services (+0.3% vs +0.7%).

Conversely, the utilities sector contracted (-2.5% vs 0.2%).

From the demand perspective, household consumption (+0.7% vs +1%), government spending (+0.3% vs +0.9%) and fixed investment (+1.6% vs -1.6%) kept growth supported.

On the other hand, changes in inventories subtracted 0.1 percentage point.

Net trade also contributed negatively to expenditure on GDP, as the 0.7% rise in exports was outpaced by a 2.2% increase in imports.

On a yearly basis, the GDP expanded by 2.1% in Q3, the fastest expansion since Q3 2022, accelerating from the upwardly revised 0.9% in Q2.



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South African Economy Expands for 4th Quarter
The South African economy advanced by 0.5% quarter-on-quarter in Q3 2025, following an upwardly revised 0.9% growth in the prior period and marking the fourth consecutive quarter of expansion. Nine out of ten industries registered growth, with trade (+1% vs +1.4% in Q2) contributing the most, alongside mining (+2.3% vs +3.5%), agriculture (+1.1% vs +2.5%) and finance, real estate and business services (+0.3% vs +0.7%). Conversely, the utilities sector contracted (-2.5% vs 0.2%). From the demand perspective, household consumption (+0.7% vs +1%), government spending (+0.3% vs +0.9%) and fixed investment (+1.6% vs -1.6%) kept growth supported. On the other hand, changes in inventories subtracted 0.1 percentage point. Net trade also contributed negatively to expenditure on GDP, as the 0.7% rise in exports was outpaced by a 2.2% increase in imports. On a yearly basis, the GDP expanded by 2.1% in Q3, the fastest expansion since Q3 2022, accelerating from the upwardly revised 0.9% in Q2.
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