By Kopano Gumbi
PRETORIA, Oct 29 (Reuters) – South Africa’s economy is estimated to be about 5% larger than previously reported after a benchmarking and rebasing exercise, its statistics agency said on Thursday, moving it further ahead of Nigeria as Sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest economy.
• Statistics South Africa said last year’s nominal gross domestic product (GDP) was now estimated at 8.04 trillion rand (about $483 billion), up from 7.64 trillion rand
• Statistics agencies worldwide rebase and benchmark their GDP estimates to take into account changes in the composition of the economy and other factors
• Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest economy, recorded nominal GDP of 441.5 trillion naira ($328 billion) last year
• Nigeria used to have a bigger economy in dollar terms, but devaluations of its currency the naira meant South Africa overtook it
• South Africa’s latest rebasing exercise changed the base year for its GDP calculations to 2022 from 2015
• It also incorporated previously non-observed parts of the economy like self-generation of electricity, illicit and illegal mining and manufacturing activity and e-hailing services
• The 10 sectors it tracks were all shown to have higher output, with mining, finance and trade registering the largest increases
• Johann Els, chief economist at financial services firm PSG, said the revisions to the size of the economy would make South Africa’s debt numbers look better, in particular its closely-watched debt-to-GDP ratio, which the government is trying to bring down($1 = 16.6354 rand)($1 = 1,347.1700 naira)
(Reporting by Kopano Gumbi;Additional reporting by Nilutpal Timsina;Editing by Alexander Winning and Bate Felix)
