Cape Town - South Africa’s real Gross Domestic Production (GDP) contracted by 1.3% in the second quarter of 2015, Statistics South Africa has announced on Tuesday.
“The economy has performed negatively in the second quarter of 2015,” said SA Statistician General Pali Lehohla.
Real GDP increased by 1.2% year-on-year and 1.6% for the first six months of 2015, but Lehohla said the country’s National Development Plan (NDP) of reaching 6% continuously was far off.
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“We are not making it to the NDP targets,” he said. “Those people who set those targets must sit up and say what they are going to do.”
The main contributors to the decrease in economic activity for the second quarter of 2015 were the manufacturing industry (contributing -0.8 of a percentage point), the mining and quarrying industry (contributing -0.5 of a percentage point) and the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry (contributing -0.4 of a percentage point).
The seasonally adjusted real annualised value added by the primary and secondary sectors recorded decreases of 9.3% and 4.7% respectively, while the tertiary sector recorded an increase of 1.1% during the second quarter of 2015.
Nominal GDP values for second quarter was R991bn, which was R26bn less than the first quarter.
In May, Stats SA said GDP expanded by 2.1% in the first quarter compared to the first quarter in 2014. It also showed GDP expanded 1.3% y/y, compared to 4.1% y/y growth in the fourth quarter of 2014.
READ: 2015 first quarter: SA GDP increase slows to 1.3%
GRAPH: Growth in three sectors quarter-on-quarter (q/q) (source: Stats SA)
GRAPH: Growth (left) and contribution to GDP (right) of the various industries q/q (source: Stats SA)
GRAPH: 2015 second quarter industry growth rates (Source: Stats SA)
GRAPH: Contribution to nominal GDP (source: Stats SA)
GRAPH: GDP growth rates (Source: Stats SA)
GRAPH: Growth rates in the various sectors (Source: Stats SA)