South African GDP shrinks, hit by floods, energy crisis / Photo: RAJESH JANTILAL - AFP/File
-
Energy bill plan could use HMRC income data to target support
-
Arsenal control title race as Manchester United fall into bottom three
-
Business owner earning £6,000 a month tackles £70,000 debt
-
Suspected Krakow gunman dies after attack that killed six
-
Nvidia chief faces inquiry after disclosing affair with suspected Chinese agent
-
Carrick backs Dalot after hostile reception from Manchester United fans
-
Comet returns as online electrical marketplace 14 years after collapse
-
Belgian PM Bart De Wever Given New Deadline to Resolve €10 Billion Budget Deadlock
-
KUFOS Signs MoU With Old Dominion University to Expand Academic Ties
-
$1.8 Billion Pledged for Biodiversity at COP17 as Monaco Reaffirms Commitment
-
Karen Wazen Launches First Standalone Boutiques in Cairo
-
Phoenix Symphony Resumes Performances Amid Financial Uncertainty
-
Opti Digital Launches NEXA, an AI-Powered Intelligence Layer
-
Municipal Elections: How Service Failure Becomes a Public Health Crisis in South Africa
South African GDP shrinks, hit by floods, energy crisis
South Africa's economy shrank in the second quarter, as floods and an energy crisis put a halt to months of growth, official data showed Tuesday.
The dip in output after two consecutive quarters of modest growth dragged Africa's most industrialised economy back below pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.
The official statistics agency StatsSA said gross domestic product retreated by 0.7 percent in the second quarter.
"The economy took almost two years to recover from the impact of COVID-19," the agency said in a statement. "The recovery was short lived".
Devastating floods that killed more than 450 people in the southeastern KwaZulu-Natal province and power cuts caused by a prolonged energy crisis contributed to the decline, "weakening an already fragile national economy", the agency said.
"The flooding had a negative impact on a number of industries, most notably manufacturing," StatsSA said.
Damages to factories and plants, and disruptions to logistics and supply chains caused by the torrential rains, pulled national manufacturing output down by 5.9 percent, it said.
Mining and the electricity, gas and water supply industry were hampered by weeks of severe rolling blackouts, known locally as load shedding, it said.
G.Machado--PC
