Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - Cannabis farming now forms an official part of the agricultural sector, even if illegal. It will be included in future calculations of the gross domestic product (GDP).
And prostitution falls within the personal services sector. This is a logical consequence of Statistics South Africa's decision to include illegal and underground economies in the country's GDP for the first time.
And, believe it or not, their inclusion is global practice. After all, they do contribute to a country's economy.
The outcome will be that South Africa's economy will be considerably larger than currently reflected in statistics.
Top economists have long considered that South Africa's GDP could be as much as R100bn bigger than that currently reflected - among other things because parts of the hidden economy, which includes illegal and underground operations, have so far been excluded from the GDP.
The base year against which economic growth is measured will also move from 2000 to 2005.
All these adjustments will apply to the GDP and economic growth figures for the first quarter of 2002 to the third quarter of 2009.
The adjustments will change the relative size of the sectors in the economy, and their contributions to growth. One consequence could even be that sectors that contracted in the past will now grow.
- Sake24.com
For more business news in Afrikaans, go to Sake24.com.
