Commentators were highly interested in the growth figures, which give them a base on which to build their expectations for economic growth this year and beyond. By the same token, the Treasury would have also watched the announcement closely to see how it fits into its growth targets.
The figures showed that seasonally adjusted real GDP increased in the fourth quarter, recording the best performance of the economy for last year.
The seasonally adjusted real GDP at market prices for the fourth quarter increased by an annualised rate of 3.2 percent compared with the third quarter. The corresponding real annualised economic growth rates for the first two quarters of last year decreased by 7.4 percent and 2.8 percent respectively, while third-quarter growth rose 0.9 percent.
The main contributors to the increase in economic activity for the fourth quarter of were the manufacturing industry (contributing 1.5 percentage points); and general government services (contributing 1 percentage point).
South Africa has, therefore, closed last year on a better economic footing than anticipated. The figures tend to support the prospects of better economic growth this year, a sentiment which was echoed by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in his Budget speech last month, when he said: "We projected that growth this year would be just 1.5 percent. However, things are looking slightly better. Our growth expectation for 2010 is now 2.3 percent, rising to 3.6 percent by 2012."
International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said this week: "All across the continent we can see signs of life, with rebounds in trade export earnings, bank credit, and commercial activity."
There is no doubt that South Africa has safely weathered the economic turbulence. All eyes from now will be on the short-term performance of our economy to see if it can lead the continent's recovery.
After a long downward trend that began in the early months of last year, an increase in the year-on-year mining production was recorded for January this year. The index of mining production was 7.7 percent higher in January this year compared with January last year. This increase followed decreases of 2.3 percent in December and 2.2 percent in November. This was the first positive annual growth since July. The total mining production for the three months to January, after seasonal adjustment, increased by 3.3 percent compared with the previous three months. The production of platinum group metals was the main contributor (at 3.6 percentage points), while iron ore contributed 1 percentage point to the increase.
In addition, total value of actual mineral sales recorded an increase of 3.3 percent in December last year, following a period of declining sales that began in December 2008. In South Africa, the mining sector is a significant employer and the current signs of the sector's performance can only bode well for the future.
As the mining sector started to show signs of recovery, similar signs started to emerge in the manufacturing industry. The manufacturing production for January this year increased by 3.7 percent compared with January last year, improving on the 3.2 percent increase in December last year compared with December 2008.
The increase of 3.7 percent was mainly owing to higher production in vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment (34.2 percent and contributing 2.7 percentage points); the basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery division (13.1 percent and contributing 2.6 percentage points); and the furniture and "other" manufacturing division (16.3 percent and contributing 0.8 of a percentage point).
In addition, total value of sales of manufactured products at current prices recorded an increase of 2.4 percent in January this year, following a period of declining sales that began in January last year.
With the World Cup on our doorstep, South Africa can only watch in anticipation of the positive spin-offs that are expected from hosting the event.
Two of the major economic sectors are showing real signs of recovery from the economic turbulence and the World Cup may contribute to their continued growth. We shall measure and report.
Pali Lehohla is the statistician-general and the head of Statistics South Africa