SA economy nosedives, GDP drops by 3.2%: Here's what caused the slump

File this one under shocker South Africa's GDP has taken a sharp turn for the worst on Tuesday after it was revealed that the country's economy had shrunk by 3.2% in the first quarter of 2019.

South African GDP latest what has caused the downturn?It's the worst performing quarter seen in Mzansi since 2009 when a record low of -6.1% was clocked. The post mortem inquiry will begin immediately following the release from StatsSA, and it'd be hard to look past the country's SOEs, as well as the eye-opening slump in manufacturing and marketing.

The secondary sector took an absolutely pummeling, as construction also joined the aforementioned bloodbath in its sister industries. All three of them combined are down 7.4% at the start of the new year.

The South African #economy declined by 3,2% in Q1:2019 compared with Q4:2018 mainly driven by declines in #manufacturing & #mining. This is the largest quarterly drop in about 10 years #StatsSA #GDP https://t.co/EdEV4ONBwq pic.twitter.com/89O3NKX55S

Stats SA (@StatsSA) June 4, 2019 Industries under pressureSadly, the forecast dip was around the 1.7% mark. South Africa has managed to almost double the negative prediction. The year-on-year growth from this point in 2018 is also a cause for concern, standing at 0%. Although we haven't gone backwards, the economy is almost certainly stagnating.

The agriculture industry was absolutely savaged, losing 13% of its output in the first three months of the year. Electricity, transport and trade all saw losses in productivity between 3.5% 7%.

Crumbs of comfort for the economyPersonal services and financial portfolios were two of only three industries that kept their heads above water, both registering growth of 1.1% over the three-month window. Government business logged the best performance, up by 1.2% in 2019's first quarter.

Government recorded a 1,2% growth mainly as a result of short-term employment in the civil service in the run-up to the #elections #StatsSA #GDP https://t.co/2d4zyGjj9x pic.twitter.com/2Da94ibBtA

Stats SA (@StatsSA) June 4, 2019 GDP shocker: Consumers feel the pinchThe downward spiral was also reflected by household spending data: South Africans aren't putting as much into the economy, which is down 0.8% on the final quarter of 2018. Despite spending more on alcohol, food and restaurants, consumers have avoided buying new clothes (down 12.7%) and skimped on transport costs (down 3.1%).

Household spending was down by 0,8% in Q1:2019 as spending of clothing & footwear as well as #transport declined #StatsSA #GDP https://t.co/2d4zyGjj9x pic.twitter.com/FtOBmhZlnc

Stats SA (@StatsSA) June 4, 2019 Tags: EconomyGDPSouth Africa

LINK:	https://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/south-africa-latest-gdp-first-qua...
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