FORESTRY SECTOR REMAINS CONSTRAINED, DOWN 53.7%

MBABANE – During the last quarter of the 2023/24 financial year, the forestry subsector remained constrained for the eighth consecutive quarter, declining by 53.7 per cent in the period under review.

These are some of the economic developments of the fourth quarter as reported by the Central Bank of Eswatini (CBE) in the Recent Economic Development (RED) report published last week. The CBE reported that economic activity, as measured by the quarterly gross domestic product (QGDP), grew by 7 per cent year-on-year (seasonally adjusted) in the fourth quarter of 2023, slightly higher than the revised 6.8 per cent recorded in the previous quarter. Growth largely emanated from the tertiary sector, while both the primary and secondary sectors contracted. The primary sector output declined by 5.8 per cent year-on-year, in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to a growth of 1 per cent in the previous quarter. Developments in the primary sector were mixed. Under the primary sector, the animal production subsector recorded a decrease of 3.4 per cent in the period under review compared to a notable growth of 12.8 per cent in the previous quarter. The decrease in livestock output was broadly due to a slowdown in cattle and pig slaughters on a year-on-year-basis in the period under review.

production

On a positive note, the ‘mining and quarrying’ subsector grew significantly by 168 per cent propelled by a significant increase in coal production, which rose by more than 200 per cent.
The secondary sector contracted by 1.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023 from a growth of 1.6 per cent in the previous quarter, largely on account of poor performance in the ‘manufacturing’ and ‘electricity supply’ subsectors. The manufacturing sector receded by 2.2 per cent in the quarter under review down from a growth of 2.3 per cent in the previous quarter. The decline was attributable to a decrease in output of food processing (particularly sugar), ‘textile & wearing apparel’ and ‘wood and wood products’.   After recording four consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, the electricity supply subsector contracted slightly recording -0.2 per cent in the quarter under review from a growth of 19.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. Similarly, the water supply subsector declined by 1.6 per cent in the quarter under review compared to a growth of 7.2 per cent in the previous quarter.  The construction subsector, on the other hand, rebounded from a decline of 13.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2023 and recorded a growth of 6.9 in the quarter under review.

commencement

The recovery mainly benefitted from upscaling of the implementation rate of mega public infrastructural projects including the commencement of the construction of the Mpakeni Dam in the southern part of the country. The tertiary sector, which accounts for approximately 52 per cent of total gross domestic product (GDP) maintained double-digits growth for the third consecutive quarter. The services sector recorded a growth of 11.9 per cent, year-on-year, in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 11.6 per cent in the previous quarter and accounted for 6.2 percentage points in the overall GDP growth. The resilient growth was largely backed by the notable growth in the ‘financial services’, ‘information and communication’, ‘wholesale and retail’, as well as ‘tourism-related activities’ subsectors.

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