South African economy contracts 1.3% q/q in fourth quarter

Seven of the 10 industries tracked by Statistics South Africa shrank in the October-December period.

Stats SA figures showed the agriculture sector shrank 3.3% quarter on quarter, mining 3.2%, finance 2.3%, trade 2.1% and manufacturing 0.9%. The construction sector grew 0.5%.

The data was worse than the third quarter's revised 1.8% growth in quarter-on-quarter and seasonally-adjusted terms.

Analysts had predicted a 0.4% contraction in October-December.

Struggling state electricity utility Eskom escalated scheduled power cuts in the fourth quarter due to breakdowns at its coal-fired power plants, leaving households in the dark and hurting businesses of all sizes.

Gross domestic product grew 0.9% year on year in the fourth quarter, worse than forecasts for a 2.2% expansion.

The economy grew 2.0% in the 2022 calendar year.