South Africa barely avoids recession

South Africa barely avoided going into a recession when Stats SA announced the gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the second quarter at an annualised 0,6%, up from the first quarter’s -0,9% growth. Growth in government services, transport and communication as well as finance, real estate and business services were the largest contributors to growth. Negative growth was experienced in the mining (-9,4%) and manufacturing sector (-2,1%). The negative growth in the mining sector is a direct result of the prolonged mining strike. The slow growth in the manufacturing sector was caused by lower growth in the food, beverage and other sectors. Agriculture was one of the better performing sectors with 5,8% growth. If the performance of the mining sector recovers, we can expect positive growth for the rest of 2014.