JOHANNESBURG - Manufacturing production in South Africa plunged to its lowest level in 12 years in April as the lockdown regulations had an extensive impact on economic activity.
Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) said on Thursday manufacturing production fell by 49.4 percent year-on-year in April compared with April last year.
StatsSA said the industry also produced far less in April compared with March, recording a 44.3 percent month-on-month decline in activity.
Economic activity came to a halt in South Africa in April after the government imposed a hard lockdown with stringent restrictions to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
StatsSA director of industry statistics Nicolai Claassen said all 10 manufacturing divisions registered sharp declines in April.
“This was much worse than what we saw in the global economic crisis of 2008 to 2009,”.
“The largest annual contraction in manufacturing output recorded then was also in April when production fell by 23.2 percent year-on-year.”
The automotive industry was the hardest hit and recorded the biggest fall at 98 percent slump in production as vehicle sales were prohibited in April.
The division that includes furniture and other small manufacturing groups tumbled by 83.5 percent.
Glass and non-metallic products saw a third biggest fall in the month, declining by 83.4 percent while the production of textiles and clothing slowed by 75.5 percent.
Manufacturers of food and beverages experienced the smallest decline, with production falling by 19.4 percent as these were deemed essential goods during the hard lockdown.
The seasonally adjusted manufacturing production decreased by 44.4 percent in April compared with March.
In the three months ended April, seasonally adjusted manufacturing production decreased by 16.9 percent compared with the previous three months as all ten manufacturing divisions reported negative growth rates over this period.