South Africa’s second quarter GDP contracts 0.2% q/q
Mining, manufacturing and trade dragged growth lower as imports surged 4.9% and net exports cut 1.1 percentage points from expenditure, Stats SA said.
- On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, Statistics South Africa released data confirming that South Africa's GDP contracted 0.2% in the second quarter, following a revised 0.4% expansion in the first quarter.
- A dramatic slump across three key industrial sectors pushed national growth into negative territory, with mining shrinking 3.0%, manufacturing falling 1.8%, and the catering and accommodation sector declining 1.9%.
- Net exports acted as a major drag on expenditure, with a 4.9% surge in imports outpacing weak 0.9% growth in exports; construction works fell 4.0% quarter-on-quarter.
- The quarter-on-quarter contraction resulted in a sluggish 0.9% year-on-year growth rate, demonstrating a clear loss of momentum amid Services sector weakness affecting the job market.
- Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke confirmed that Stats SA, collaborating with the South African Reserve Bank, is changing the national accounts base year to 2022, with benchmarked estimates scheduled for October 2026.
13 Articles
13 Articles
South Africa’s second quarter GDP contracts 0.2% q/q
PRETORIA, Sept 8 (Reuters) - South Africa's economy contracted 0.2% in the second quarter of 2026 in seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter terms, statistics agency data showed on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast that gross do...
South Africa’s economy is seen snapping its longest quarterly growth run in almost a decade as the war in Iran crimps domestic demand and key sectors accounting for almost a fifth of gross domestic product contract.
The trade sector was the main negative contribution factor
GDP growth undergoes a material moderation in 2Q26
By Thanda Sithole, FNB & WesBank Senior Economist Real GDP growth moderated materially to -0.2% quarter-on-quarter (q/q) (seasonally adjusted) in 2Q26, from a downwardly revised 0.4% (previously 0.5% q/q) in 1Q26. This was below our forecast of 0.0% and the market consensus of -0.1%, which we had flagged in our GDP preview. On a year-on-year […]
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