South Africa: Economic recovery quickens in Q2 but risks remain

While the economy posted stronger than expected growth in Q2, it likely will contract in Q3 after deadly riots.

South Africa’s recovery from a coronavirus-induced contraction quickened in the second quarter as restrictions to contain the pandemic were eased. Gross domestic product expanded 1.2% in the three months through June from a revised 1% in the previous quarter, Statistics South Africa said Tuesday in the capital, Pretoria. The median estimate of four economists in a Bloomberg survey was for growth of 0.9%. The agency no longer reports an annualized growth rate and now uses 2015 as the base year for the data.