- The country’s gross domestic product is expected to decline by 7.2 percent in 2020, its largest decline in nearly a century.
South Africa’s industrial production fell by nearly 50% in April compared to the same month in 2019, in the midst of the containment period against the new coronavirus; the statistics office (Stats SA) announced on Thursday, July 9. The government of the most industrialized country of the continent ordered at the end of March confinement which put at stop almost all its economy.
This lockdown was considered one of the strictest on the planet. It was gradually lifted only nine weeks after it was introduced. South Africa is the sub-Saharan African country most affected by Covid-19, with more than 220,000 infections and 3,600 deaths to date. The peak of the pandemic is expected in the coming weeks. In the last few days, 10,000 new cases have been reported daily across the country.
“The Covid-19 pandemic and the measures taken to halt its spread (…) have had a huge impact on economic activity;” said Stats SA, which reported a 49.4 percent decline in industrial production in April. Automobile production fell 98 percent in that month and steel production fell 65.4 percent, the bureau said.
South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to decline by 7.2% in 2020 due to the health crisis; according to Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s forecast, its biggest decline in nearly a century. Prior to the health crisis, the country was already mired in a crisis characterized by sluggish growth, deteriorating public finances, and mass unemployment. Its economy fell back into recession in the last quarter of last year. For 2019 as a whole, its GDP grew by only 0.2%.
Despite an economic and social support plan of more than 24 billion euros, the government anticipates a sharp increase in the unemployment rate; already at an all-time high of 30.1%.
Source: Le Monde
