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South Africa's Economy Contracted Over the Previous Quarter in 3Q

December 07, 2021 at 05:08 am EST

By Maria Martinez

South Africa's gross domestic product declined 1.5% in the third quarter compared with the previous quarter, due to July's riots, the Covid-19 pandemic and continuing supply constraints.

Compared with the same period a year earlier, the economy grew 2.9% in the third quarter, the country's statistics office said Tuesday.

The largest contributor to the decline in quarter-on-quarter growth was agriculture, posting a 13.6% decline in activity. Construction, mining, transport and communications, manufacturing and trade also posted contractions.

South Africa raised the alarm about the Omicron coronavirus variant at the end of November, which the World Health Organization declared a variant of concern. Governments around the globe have reacted by imposing travel restrictions on South Africa and its neighbors, which are likely to inflict further damage on the economy.

Write to Maria Martinez at maria.martinez@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

12-07-21 0508ET

Maria Martinez

Maria Martinez is on the board of McKesson Corp., Silicon Valley Education Foundation, Genesys Works and Declara, Inc. and EVP, Chief Operating & Customer Experience Officer at Cisco Systems, Inc. Ms. Martinez previously was President & Chief Executive Officer of Embrace Networks, Vice President-Worldwide Services at Microsoft Corp., President-Global Customer Success at salesforce.com, inc., Principal at AT&T, Inc. and Vice President at Motorola, Inc. She received an undergraduate degree from the University of Puerto Rico and a graduate degree from The Ohio State University.

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