South Africa’s economy grew at its fastest pace in 14 years in 2021 as it bounced back from a coronavirus-induced contraction the year before, a Statistics South Africa report said on Tuesday.
According to the StatSA report, gross domestic product (GDP) grew 4.9 percent in 2021 after shrinking 6.4 percent when the country was first hit by the Covid-19 pandemic the previous year.
The biggest increase recorded since 2007, the expansion beat the 4.8 percent median estimate of the National Treasury announced in the annual budget last month, the agency said.
GDP expanded by 1.2 percent in the last quarter of 2021 after a revised 1.7 percent contraction in the previous three months, the agency said.
Prospects for even higher growth in the fourth quarter were affected by travel bans that accompanied South Africa’s announcement that its scientists had found the Covid-19 Omicron variant as well as by surging fuel prices, Stats SA noted.
It warned that the war in Ukraine is likely to curtail growth prospects for South Africa going forward.
NM/jn/APA