Fourth quarter GDP comes in at 5.3%

Figures released by Statistic South Africa (Stats SA) on Tuesday, 26 February, showed that the increase is the highest of 2007 with the revised growth figures of the first, second and third quarters at 5.1, 4.4 and 4.8% respectively.

The main contributors to the increased economic activity was the finance, real estate and business services, retailers, construction, transport and general government sectors, said Stats SA.

Finance, real estate and business services constituted 1.8 percentage points, whilst wholesale, retail and motor trade were 1.3 percentage points.

Construction and the general government services came in at 0.5 percentage points each, sector registered 0.4 of a percentage point of GDP.

The hospitality industry, the transport, storage and communication industry contributed 0.3 of a percentage point each of the GDP.

“The seasonally adjusted real value added by non-agricultural industries increased by 5.1%, 4.3%, 5.1% and 5.4% during the four quarters of 2007 respectively,” Stats SA said.

“The unadjusted GDP at market prices increased by 5.8%, 5.1%, 5.2% and 4.6% during the fourth quarters of 2007 respectively.”

Sectors contributing to the slow-down in 5.3% growth were the mining and quarrying sectors with -0.1% and electricity, gas and water, with 0.0%, said Stats SA Deputy Director General for Economic Statistics, Dr Rashad Cassim.

Dr Cassim attributed the slow–down contribution in these sectors to security reasons and the mining industry strike in 2007.

Safety concerns prompted the government to force some companies to shut mines in the fourth quarter and prompted a strike which involved about 240,000 workers and 60 companies.

On electricity, Dr Cassim said the decrease was mainly due to increased consumption rate and the decrease in its production.

“The decrease in electricity can not be attributed to load shedding,” he said adding that load shedding started in January, which did not affect the fourth quarter.

For the whole of 2007, Dr Cassim said the GDP increased by 5.1% following the 5.4% in 2006.

He said the main contributors to the increase in economic activity in 2007 were finance, real estate and business services, wholesale trade, retail trade, hotels and restaurants, manufacturing and construction and transport, storage and communication industries.

Article published courtesy of BuaNews