South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, rebounding from a decline of 0.1 percent in the previous quarter, according to Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).
The growth was primarily fuelled by a significant increase of 17.2 percent in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry, which contributed 0.4 percentage points to overall GDP growth.
Stats SA noted that this surge was largely due to heightened economic activities in field crops and animal products.
In addition to agriculture, the finance, real estate and business services sector also saw an uptick of 1.1 percent, contributing an additional 0.3 percentage points to GDP growth as activity increased across financial intermediation and real estate services.
The trade, catering and accommodation industry grew by 1.4 percent, adding another 0.2 percentage points to GDP with reported increases in wholesale and retail trade.
Several sectors, however, experienced declines. These included the transport, storage and communication industry which fell by one percent.
Manufacturing decreased by 0.6 percent while general government services dropped by 0.5 percent.
Electricity production declined by 1.4 percent while and mining contracted by 0.2 percent.
JN/APA