By Aaisha Dadi Patel
JOHANNESBURG--South Africa's economy grew by an annualized 6.3% in the fourth quarter, as a second wave of Covid-19 infections slowed down the country's economic recovery, Statistics South Africa said Tuesday.
For all of 2020, the GDP of Africa's most developed economy shrank by 7%--the steepest contraction since at least 1946, the statistics agency said.
The fourth-quarter growth data show how South Africa's strong third-quarter rebound--when GDP expanded by an annualized 67.3% from a 51.7% contraction in the second quarter--slowed toward the end of the year amid new Covid-19 restrictions.
Annualized growth figures assume that the quarterly growth or contraction trend continues over a full year. On a non-annualized basis, South Africa's fourth-quarter GDP grew by 1.5% compared with the third quarter and was down 4.1% from a year earlier.
In December, South African scientists announced the discovery of a new, fast-spreading coronavirus strain that drove a powerful second wave of coronavirus infections across the country and prompted the government to impose new restrictions on economic and social activity
In a budget presentation in February, South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni forecast that GDP will grow by 3.3% in 2021.
Write to Aaisha Dadi Patel at aaisha.dadipatel@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-09-21 0504ET
