South African economy contracts 4 consecutive quarters to 51% in Q2

South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted for the fourth quarter in a row in the second quarter of 2020, data from the country’s statistics agency on Tuesday show.

The data show that quarter-on-quarter, the GDP of Africa’s most industrialised country contracted by 51.0 percent in Q2, exacerbated by the impact of global lockdown measures and South Africa’s underlying economic challenges.

SA’s GDP shrank 17.1 percent year-on-year in the three months to the end of June, a reflection of the impact of the country’s lockdown aimed at bending the curve of COVID-19 which has since affected over 639,000 of its population.

While nine out of South Africa’s 10 industries contracted in the review quarter, mining, manufacturing and construction took the most hit at -73.1 percent, -74.9 percent and -76.6 percent, respectively.