Why South Africa's economy is doing so poorly in 2018
- South Africa's economy looks like it's going in a downward spiral
- Factors such as the political unrest and unemployment are causing the economy's growth to lessen severely
- South Africa's agriculture is also one of the negative influences on the economy.
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With the latest petrol price increase, South Africans became aware of just how serious matters are in South Africa.
The South African economy has been straining lately. It recently became common knowledge that the South African economy have shrunk majorly.
SA's economy has suffered it's worst shrinkage in almost 10 years in the first quarter of 2018.
If president Ramaphosa really means to save South Africa's economy, he has a truck load of work to do.
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South Africa's GDP (Gross Domestic Product - a monetary measure of the market value of all serviced and goods produced in a certain amount of time) has grown smaller from January to March.
In 2017 South Africa's economy was much healthier and growing by 3.1%, but things have gone south for the economy.
This is the worst South Africa's economy has suffered since 2009, when the economy shrank more than 6%.
But why is South Africa's economy doing so horrible?
Briefly.co.za gathered that there are many factors that have a real and active effect on South Africa's economy. Some of these influences cannot be seen, but are certainly felt.
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Perhaps the some of biggest impacts on South Africa's economy are social and political. South Africa's politics are a mess of corruption accusations, blatant disrespect towards those who rule the country and rampant in-fighting.
Exports were down by 16% according to StatsSA, another loss for South Africa's economy.
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All these issues affect the country's economical growth.
Socially, things aren't any better. Racist attacks (allegations) are happening too often and people are feeling uneasy and unruly. Protests and violence are a regular problem causing social instability.
The strength, or weakness, of South Africa's labour market also inhibits the economy's growth. The current unemployment rate of 27% is a good indicator of the bad state of South Africa's labour market.
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South Africa's agricultural growth also decreased this year, contributing negatively and immensely to an already suffering economy.
The mining sector did terrible and actually went into a recession, a horrible and major influencer on the economy.
When all of these factors are considered together, it is possible to see why South Africa's economy has been suffering so much lately.
With political unrest, poor mining and agricultural growth and the general distrust of communities towards the government, the South African economy has a very heavy burden to carry.
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On a more positive note, manufacturing went up by 1.1% so far this year.
President Ramaphosa is going to have to solve all these problems before South Africa can truly enter a new dawn.
Watch the entertaining Top 5: South Africa's richest people video and take look at some other funny and informative videos on Briefly South Africa's YouTube channel.
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Source: Briefly News
