Cape Town - A significant drop in gross domestic product (GDP) in the agriculture sector as well as a drop in the manufacturing sector contributed to the 1.3% increase in year-on-year (y/y) GDP in the first quarter of 2015, Statistics SA said on Tuesday.
This was compared to the 4.1% y/y GDP increase in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The main contributing factors to the increase activity for the first quarter were the mining and quarrying industry (10% increase), contributing a 0.8 percentage point to the overall GDP.
The unadjusted real GDP at market price for the first quarter increased by 2.1% compared to the first quarter in 2014.
Also contributing to the GDP was finance (3.8% increase), real estate and business services (contributing 0.7 of a percentage point) and the wholesale, retail and motor trade, catering and accommodation industry (contributing 0.2 of a percentage point).
"Nominal GDP was estimated at R965bn for the first quarter of 2015, which is R14bn less than the fourth quarter," said Stats SA statistician general Pali Lehohla.
- Agriculture expanded by R8bn to R18bn;
- Finance expanded by R6bn to R186bn;
- Trade decreased by R14bn to R125bn; and
- Manufacturing decreased by R9bn to R111bn.
The seasonally adjusted real annualised value added by the primary and tertiary sectors recorded increases of 3.3% and 1.5% respectively, while the secondary sector recorded a decrease of 1.4% during the first quarter of 2015.
Source: StatsSA
Source: StatsSA