SA GDP growth slows to 1.3% in Q1

South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth has slowed from 4.1% in the last quarter of 2014 to 1.3% in the first quarter of this year, weighed down by a contracting manufacturing sector, Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) revealed in its quarterly GDP update on Tuesday. The marginal expansion was chiefly driven by a 10.2% growth in the mining and quarrying industry, a 3.8% expansion in the finance, real estate and business services and growth of 1.2% by the wholesale, retail and motor trade, catering and accommodation industry.