SA’S real gross domestic product rose by 0.9% in the third quarter of 2009 from a revised -7.4% (–6.4%) in the first and a revised -2.8% (–3.0%) in the second quarter, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) data showed today.
This snaps the first instance of three consecutive quarters of negative growth seen since the fourth quarter of 1992.
The result in the first quarter had ushered in the first recession in 17 years. It was also the worst figure since the third quarter of 1984 when GDP was at -6.5% and it is currently the first technical recession in South Africa since the fourth quarter of 1992. The third quarter GDP last year was the 40th consecutive quarter of positive growth since 1998, but this came tumbling down in the fourth quarter as the first decline in a decade was registered.
Non-seasonally adjusted year-on-year (y/y) GDP in the third quarter was placed at -2.1% from a revised – 2.6% (–2.8%).
Growth was expected to have come in at +0.7% according to an I-Net Bridge survey of leading economists. The range of forecasts for the current survey was from –0.6% q/q to +2.0%, with a feature being that seven of the eight economists surveyed saw a move out of negative territory.
