South Africa recorded stronger GDP growth in the third quarter than many analysts had expected.
The 0.5% growth, compared with the previous three months, marked a fourth straight quarter of expansion, extending the economy’s longest growth streak since 2021, when the country was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2.1% year-on-year growth — which follows fewer power cuts and improved efficiency by state logistics company Transnet — is “almost considered heroic for the country,” Razia Khan, Standard Chartered’s head of research for Africa, said in a note, adding that the outlook was “looking a little more positive for South Africa.” Goldman Sachs said it would revise up its full-year growth projections in light of the Q3 figures.
The growth was driven by strength in the mining sector and domestic consumption but it comes only days after an influential survey showed sentiment among South African manufacturers dropped sharply in November amid weak export sales — a trend that was borne out in the latest economic data.
