KZN economy slows down

Bloemfontein - The KwaZulu-Natal economy was still growing, but has lost some steam in the past three months.

This was evident from the Sake24 and BoE Private Clients' KwaZulu-Natal Barometer. The province, the third-biggest contributor to the country's gross domestic product, grew by 6.5% in October compared with the year before.

But over the past three months the economy has contracted by 0.5% – an indication of a possible further decline.

The best performers for October were the transport index, which rose 9.3% year-on-year (y/y), the government index, which was 14.4% up, and the commercial index which improved 7.7%.

The financial, property and business services sector rose 6.1% y/y, but over the past three months a slump has been evident.

Although these indices rose y/y, they are still not at the high levels seen before the recession, said Economists.co.za economist Mike Schüssler, the compiler of the KwaZulu-Natal barometer.

The retail sector, in particular, performed well with a 23.3% increase in vehicle sales, with hotels and restaurants up 14% y/y, he said.

Activities in the province's ports increased by 8.6% compared with a year ago. and the new King Shaka airport helped generate a 14% rise in airline passengers.

There is great concern about the province’s construction industry, which contracted 25.3% compared with a year ago; according to Schüssler, more declines can be expected for some months.

The province’s sugar industry was experiencing difficult weather and trading conditions and the agricultural index was a mere 2.4% up y/y.

– Sake24

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