South Africa’s economic output contracted by 51% in the second quarter of 2020, as a strict lockdown to curb the COVID-19 pandemic curtailed economic activities in the southernmost country on the African continent.
Analysts polled by Reuters news agency had predicted a 47.3% fall in quarter-on-quarter terms.
“This is the first time in history that the South African economy has contracted for four straight quarters,” Statistician-General Risenga Maluleke told a press conference.
The continued contraction is likely to weigh on the government’s revenue collection and its efforts to stabilize debt and narrow the budget deficit.
