Experts say economic momentum remains elusive after weak GDP growth
Agriculture bloomed in the three months under review, giving the economy a massive lifeline of 15%.
But chronic challenges in mining and manufacturing offset agricultural wins, pulling performance down.
Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) released the latest GDP figures on Tuesday.
While economists at Nedbank said they didn't expect fireworks, the quarter one GDP figures were disappointing.
Although adverse global developments earlier in 2025 also played a role, an economist at the North-West University Business School, Raymond Parsons, said the weaker economic data was already apparent before then.
He said that the ABSA Purchasing Managers' Index for May had remained in contractionary territory for seven consecutive months, despite showing some recent signs of business activity and demand improvement.
He said the key manufacturing sector was likely to continue to be a lagging one for now.
If the challenges persist, Parsons said the growth outlook for 2025 now seemed likely to be only about 1%, lower than projections by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and National Treasury.
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