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eThekwini: Growth Overview

Author:The EDGE Team
Published:October 2018

Introduction

This data story shows how eThekwini’s GDP growth rate has performed in 2016 and 2017. Performance is measured against other metros for 2016 and 2017, and South Africa and global growth rate trends from 2012 to 2019. Furthermore, the growth rates and contribution of the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors in eThekwini are provided for 2016.
What is the economic growth breakdown for eThekwini?

How did eThekwini’s growth rate perform in 2016 / 2017 compared to other cities?

Metros in general have low growth rates this year; notable drop from 2016.

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sa-metro-gdp-growth-rates-2016-vs-2017_state-1 Created with Sketch. 1.4% 1.2% 1.0% 0.8% 0.6% 0.4% 0.2% 0.0% CPT ETHEK EKU JHB TSHW *Live Data Pending 1.3% 1.1% 0.1% 0.4% 0.8% 1.3% 1.0% 0.4% 0.3% 0.4% 2016 2017 SA Metro GDP Growth Rates 2016 vs 2017
sa-metro-gdp-growth-rates-2016-vs-2017_state-2 Created with Sketch. 1.4% 1.2% 1.0% 0.8% 0.6% 0.4% 0.2% 0.0% CPT ETHEK EKU JHB TSHW *Live Data Pending 1.3% 1.1% 0.1% 0.4% 0.8% 1.3% 1.0% 0.4% 0.3% 0.4% 2016 2017 SA Metro GDP Growth Rates 2016 vs 2017
sa-metro-gdp-growth-rates-2016-vs-2017_state-3 Created with Sketch. 1.4% 1.2% 1.0% 0.8% 0.6% 0.4% 0.2% 0.0% CPT ETHEK EKU JHB TSHW *Live Data Pending 1.3% 1.1% 0.1% 0.4% 0.8% 1.3% 1.0% 0.4% 0.3% 0.4% 2016 2017 SA Metro GDP Growth Rates 2016 vs 2017
Source: HS Global Insight Economic Indicators, 2017

How does eThekwini’s growth trend compare on a national and international level?

The graph shows that economic growth rates globally dropped off in 2016, however, South Africa and eThekwini’s growth rates were more severely impacted by this decline and have struggled to recover, despite a slight increase in 2018/19 to 1.6% and 1.4% respectively. Download as PNG

World Bank and IHS Global Insight Economic Indicators, 2017

Source: World Bank and IHS Global Insight Economic Indicators, 2017

How do the primary, secondary & tertiary sectors contribute to eThekwini’s growth?

eThekwini’s tertiary sector (finance, business, government, etc.) is setting the pace of the country together with other metros and is growing faster than other sectors and represents the lion’s share of the economy.

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2016-sector-contribution-in-millions-of-rands_state-1 Created with Sketch. Primary Secondary Tertiary 2016 Sector Contribution in Millions of Rands *Live Data Pending R 3,944,539.7 (1%) R 198,480,807.7 (72%) R 72,267,652.7 (26%)
2016-sector-contribution-in-millions-of-rands_state-2 Created with Sketch. Primary Secondary Tertiary 2016 Sector Contribution in Millions of Rands *Live Data Pending R 3,944,539.7 (1%) R 198,480,807.7 (72%) R 72,267,652.7 (26%)
2016-sector-contribution-in-millions-of-rands_state-3 Created with Sketch. Primary Secondary Tertiary 2016 Sector Contribution in Millions of Rands *Live Data Pending R 3,944,539.7 (1%) R 198,480,807.7 (72%) R 72,267,652.7 (26%)
2016-sector-contribution-in-millions-of-rands_state-4 Created with Sketch. Primary Secondary Tertiary 2016 Sector Contribution in Millions of Rands *Live Data Pending R 3,944,539.7 (1%) R 198,480,807.7 (72%) R 72,267,652.7 (26%)
Source: World Bank and IHS Global Insight Economic Indicators, 2017

Conclusion

Overall, eThekwini’s economic growth performance has been poor. EThekwini’s growth rate declined from 1.1% in 2016 to 0.4% in 2017, which is in line with other metros which have also experienced a drop in growth. EThekwini experienced a downward growth trend from 2012 to 2017 and picked up slightly in 2018 and 2019, however, is still lower than the South African and global economies. The primary, secondary and tertiary sectors all experienced low to negative growth between 2014 and 2016.

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