{"id":802491,"date":"2024-12-03T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=802491"},"modified":"2024-12-03T17:10:35","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T15:10:35","slug":"the-one-province-that-has-officially-exited-a-recession-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/802491\/the-one-province-that-has-officially-exited-a-recession-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"The one province that has officially exited a recession in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Eastern Cape has officially emerged from a recession, marking a significant milestone in the second quarter of 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This recovery was driven by growth across several industries, notably electricity, manufacturing, trade, and construction, reflecting renewed momentum in the provincial economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council (ECSECC), South Africa\u2019s overall economy grew by 0.4% during this period, following a stagnant 0.0% growth in the first quarter of 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This national improvement coincided with the Eastern Cape\u2019s modest recovery, which came after three consecutive quarters of contraction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The province&#8217;s economy officially entered a recession in early 2024, with a GDP decline of 0.3% in the first quarter, preceded by contractions of 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 0.3% in the third quarter of 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It should be noted that the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council&#8217;s data for Q2 is the most recent data on the province&#8217;s performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stats SA&#8217;s latest data on South Africa&#8217;s GDP for Q3 2024, which showed a nationwide 0.3% quarter-on-quarter decline, did not include province-specific data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-businesstech wp-block-embed-businesstech\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"HoIMXHxlkm\"><a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/802622\/gdp-shock-for-south-africa\/\">GDP shock for South Africa<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;GDP shock for South Africa&#8221; &#8212; BusinessTech\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/802622\/gdp-shock-for-south-africa\/embed\/#?secret=2PEwit8x5O#?secret=HoIMXHxlkm\" data-secret=\"HoIMXHxlkm\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>At the start of 2024, the Eastern Cape\u2019s GDP at market prices had dropped from R368.8 billion in the last quarter of 2023 to R366.9 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Comparatively, the province accounted for 7.9% of South Africa\u2019s national GDP, lagging behind Gauteng (33.9%), KwaZulu-Natal (16.6%), and the Western Cape (14.2%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite its smaller share, the province&#8217;s renewed growth offers hope for sustained economic progress in the months ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The turning point came in the second quarter of 2024 when the Eastern Cape recorded a 0.1% GDP growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This recovery was spearheaded by gains in the electricity, manufacturing, and trade sectors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Electricity emerged as a standout contributor, posting a 2.8% increase, followed by manufacturing at 1.2% and trade at 0.7%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These sectors provided much-needed positive momentum after the prolonged period of economic contraction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Government services, a key employer in the province, also contributed to the recovery, growing by 0.4% in the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nationally, South Africa&#8217;s real GDP reached its highest quarterly level in the second quarter of 2024, though it remained below the International Monetary Fund\u2019s projected growth rate of 0.9% for the year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A closer look at the national statistics revealed that seven industries expanded during the quarter, with finance, manufacturing, trade, and electricity, gas, and water making the largest contributions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finance led the way with a 1.3% growth, adding 0.3 percentage points to GDP, while trade and manufacturing increased by 1.2% and 1.1%, respectively, each contributing 0.1 percentage points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the transport sector dragged down overall performance with a 2.2% decline, attributed to decreases in land transport and transport support services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Provincially, growth patterns varied, with only the Free State and Northern Cape recording negative GDP growth of 0.1% each. Gauteng experienced the largest provincial increase at 0.8%, followed by the Western Cape at 0.5% and KwaZulu-Natal at 0.4%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a year-on-year basis, GDP growth declined across most provinces except Gauteng. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Eastern Cape, along with the Northern Cape, Free State, and North West, saw a year-on-year decline of 0.6 percentage points, underscoring the challenges that persist despite recent progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not all sectors fared equally well within the Eastern Cape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While electricity, manufacturing, and trade powered the recovery, the transport and agriculture industries faced contractions of 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These declines highlight ongoing vulnerabilities in critical areas of the provincial economy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nevertheless, the overall expansion in the second quarter offers a renewed sense of optimism for the Eastern Cape, marking a critical step forward after a prolonged economic downturn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This recovery underscores the resilience of the Eastern Cape&#8217;s economy and the potential for further growth if the momentum in key industries can be sustained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As South Africa continues to grapple with broader economic challenges, the Eastern Cape\u2019s turnaround provides a valuable example of how targeted improvements in strategic sectors can drive regional recovery and contribute to national economic stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-02-160024.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"829\" height=\"672\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-02-160024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-802495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-02-160024.png 829w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-02-160024-300x243.png 300w, https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Screenshot-2024-12-02-160024-768x623.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 829px) 100vw, 829px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/802461\/south-africas-capital-city-makes-r6-5-billion-deal-with-eskom\/\">South Africa\u2019s capital city makes R6.7 billion deal with Eskom<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This province has recovered from a recession after recording a 0.1% GDP growth in the second quarter of 2024, following a contraction from three previous quarters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":802498,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[18622,21154,2720,853],"class_list":["post-802491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-eastern-cape","tag-eastern-cape-socio-economic-consultative-council-ecsecc","tag-gdp","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802491"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":802725,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802491\/revisions\/802725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}