South African Economy Shrinks 0.3%

(RTTNews) - The South African economy contracted in the third quarter after expanding in the previous quarter, data from Statistics South Africa showed on Tuesday.

In real terms, gross domestic product fell 0.3 percent sequentially after growing 0.3 percent in the second quarter.

Four industries recorded negative growth compared to the previous quarter. The agriculture industry decreased the most by 28.8 percent, primarily due to decreased economic activities reported for field crops.

Data showed that the transport industry contracted by 1.6 percent. On the other hand, the manufacturing industry grew by 0.5 percent.

On the expenditure side, household final consumption rose 0.5 percent, while government consumption was 0.5 percent lower in comparison with the previous quarter. Meanwhile, investments recovered 0.3 percent, and net foreign demand logged a positive contribution of 0.1 percent as imports fell faster than exports.

On a yearly basis, GDP expanded at a stable pace of 0.3 percent in the September quarter.