Mozambican Gross Domestic Product (GDP) regressed 1.28% in 2020, the National Statistics Institute (INE) announced yesterday in its new National Accounts bulletin, reflecting the impact of the covid-19 pandemic.
“Gross domestic product at market prices showed a change of -2.37%
in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the same period of the previous year and in cumulative terms of the four quarters of 2020 stood at -1.28%,” the document reads.
Only the first quarter of 2020 registered growth compared to the same period of the previous year, a rise of 1.68%.
In the rest, the economy shrank, mainly due to the restrictions on activity imposed to contain the pandemic, reflected in the economic slowdown.
The second quarter registered the worst fall (-3.23%), in the third quarter the GDP went down again, although in a more positive way.
The second quarter registered the worst fall (-3.23%), in the third quarter the GDP fell again, although less sharply (-1.09%), and the fourth quarter again accentuated the economic slowdown (-2.37%).
“The negative performance of economic activity in the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to the same period of 2019, is attributed primarily to the tertiary sector, which declined by 4.06%, most notably the hotel and restaurant industry,” the bulletin adds.
Notwithstanding “the positive performance of the branches of agriculture and fishing,” the drop
of 13.1% in mining activity places the primary sector as the second largest responsible for the fall in the fourth the fourth quarter.
