Johannesburg – President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday “welcomed the 1,6% growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) recorded in the third quarter of 2022 as an encouraging and hopeful indication that the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan is bearing fruit”.
Earlier today, (Tuesday, 6 December 2022), Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) published GDP data for Quarter 3 of 2022, which reveals that after contracting by 0,7% in the second quarter of 2022, the economy rallied in the third quarter, expanding by 1,6%.
This constitutes year-on-year growth of 4.1%.
The agriculture, finance, transport and manufacturing industries were the main drivers of growth on the supply side of the economy.
The demand side of the economy was lifted by a rise in exports and government consumption.
The size of the economy now exceeds pre-pandemic levels. Real gross domestic product (GDP), measured by production, was R1 161 billion in the third quarter, which is above the previous peak of R1 152 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The GDP findings follow Stats SA’s recent finding, in the Quarterly Labour Force Survey for Quarter 3 as well, that the official unemployment rate had decreased by one percentage point compared with Quarter 2 and that about 204 000 more people had been employed in Quarter 3 compared to the previous three months.
President Ramaphosa said: “Given the condition of our economy, we have no room to be complacent, but we do have room to acknowledge that our economic recovery is in progress and that our Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, conceived amid the COVID-19 pandemic, is bearing fruit.
“We owe the progress we are making to the high-level partnerships between government and all sectors of our economy, as well as to the hard work of millions of South Africans who report for duty or open their businesses daily to add value to our economy and bring services and products to the nation.
“Through increased economic activity, we will see more and more South Africans in employment and sharing in the prosperity of the nation.”
Commenting on the latest GDP figures, the African National Congress said: “This is a clear demonstration that the economic recovery efforts that government is implementing as outlined in the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan that President Cyril Ramaphosa presented to the country in October 2020 are bearing fruits”.
The GOOD party said: “This is a welcomed bounce back after the 0.7% contraction in the second quarter and means South Africa avoided a push into a technical recession”.
The party added: “The encouraging data comes at a time when the country is faced with political uncertainty and dealing with the ongoing power crisis which has been devastating businesses and livelihoods.
“However, we need to keep in mind that the road is long and South Africa requires much higher and constant growth to address some of our most pressing challenges including inequality and poverty.”
Meanwhile on Tuesday evening, Ramaphosa was at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, where he was attending the opening ceremony of the World Science Forum (WSF) aimed at tackling social justice.
South Africa under the auspices of the Department of Science and Innovation is for the first time hosting the global forum from 6 to 9 December 2022 under the theme “Science for Social Justice”.
The WSF is among the most significant science gatherings worldwide, that encourage dialogue on the role science should play in society.
