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Best performing city in SA in 2014

Staff Writer

 ·22 Jan 2015

The East Rand (Ekurhuleni), in Gauteng, is the top-performing major metropolitan area in South Africa in 2014, in terms of GDP per capita and employment growth.

This is according to a new economic report from independent research firm, the Brookings Institute. It’s finding are taken from the 2014 Oxford Economics report.

The report compares growth patterns in the world’s 300 largest metro economies on two key economic indicators—annualised growth rate of real GDP per capita, and the annualised growth rate of employment.

According to Brookings, while only holding 20% of the global population, the world’s 300 largest metropolitan economies accounted for nearly half of global output in 2014.

Five of South Africa’s metropolitan areas were ranked among the world’s 300 largest.

The East Rand was ranked as the top-performing major metropolitan area in South Africa between 2013 and 2014, leading Pretoria, Joburg, Cape Town and Durban.

The East Rand was the only major metro to show any growth in GDP per capita between 2013 and 2014, leading the other metros at $17,361 – up 0.1% over the period.

While the growth may seem marginal, it was the only major metropolitan area in the country to show any growth at all, according to Brookings’ data.

The region also grew employment by 1.8%, the report said.

Ekurhuleni is one of the 5 districts of Gauteng and includes OR Tambo International Airport in its coverage area, along with Midrand, which is home to the offices of major factories, depots and corporations such including Vodacom, Microsoft, and Neotel.

The East Rand has a population of close to 3.2 million, of which 1.27 million are employed. The area contributes most to the local (non-market), manufacturing and business/finance industries.

Notably, according to Brookings’ findings, both Cape Town and Durban have only “partially recovered” from economic recession, with Johannesburg, Pretoria and the East Rand having fully recovered.

SA metro performance 2013 – 2014

In terms of GDP per capita in 2014, Macau, an independent district of China is the top performing global metro at $93,849. The metro also topped the rankings for overall growth over the period.

The rest of the top 10 global metros are dominated by Unites States areas – while the bottom performing metros are mostly found in developing regions.

Notably, the bottom 4 metro areas in the world are all found in India, with the region with the lowest GDP per capita (Kolkata) reaching only $4,036.

Top 10 global metros by GDP per capita in 2014

Bottom 10 global metros by GDP per capita in 2014

In terms of overall metropolitan economic performance between 2013 and 2014, however, Turkish and Chinese metros came out on top, led by Macau City in China.

China accounted for more than half of the 30 fastest growing metro economies in the world.

The analysis found that overall, GDP per capita in the top 300 metro areas grew 1.3% in 2014, compared to 1.6% in 2013. Employment grew at 1.5% in 2014, the same as in 2013.

Top 10 by overall economic growth

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