Agriculture GDP bad, but not that bad - expert analysis

The gross domestic product (GDP) data for the third quarter of 2024 showed that the agriculture, forestry and fishing industry decreased by 28.8%, primarily due to decreased economic activities reported for field crops, economists and the agriculture sector were shocked by this.

- Ina Opperman

However, AgriSA said although agriculture performed badly in the third quarter, its performance was not as bad as Statistics SA indicated in its report on the GDP for the third quarter.

AgriSA said the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) have noted the sharp decline in South Africa's agricultural performance in the third quarter of 2024, with a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter decrease of 28.8%.

"While a decline was anticipated due to a challenging mid-summer drought, the extent of the decrease was surprising," AgriSA said.

In response, AgriSA and Agbiz requested the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) to conduct a detailed analysis of the data.