Compared to Q1 2021, recent Q1 2022 gross domestic product (GDP) and employment numbers confirm that Western Cape agriculture is pushing forward.
StatsSA GDP numbers show that South Africa’s (RSA) economic performance in the 1st quarter of 2022 grew by 1.9%Â quarter-on-quarter (q/q) and 3% year-on-year (y/y).Â
The GDP growth in the 1st quarter of 2022 was driven by the positive performance in eight of ten industries. This includes agriculture which increased by 0.8% (q/q) and 3.6% on a (y/y) basis due to the substantial contribution of the horticultural sector.
The Western Cape province is the dominant player in the horticultural sector. The observed real gross income growth highlighted the deciduous and other fruit, vegetables, and subtropical fruits as the top three performing products. Moreover, in terms of annual growth rate, the subtropical fruits showed a positive increase of 16% in value terms, followed by tea, vegetables and dried fruits which increased by 14%, 9% and 7%, respectively.
StatsSA’s recently released Quarterly Labour Force Statistics (QLFS) highlights that the Western Cape Province had overall positive employment growth of 1.5% (33 207) (q/q). At the same time, the provincial agricultural employment numbers show a significant increase of 49.8% in the first quarter of 2022 (y/y).
A total of 67 581 primary agricultural jobs were created in the 1st  quarter of 2022 (y/y).
The agri-processing employment numbers increased by 13 647 in the 1st quarter of 2022 (y/y).
Over the past two years, agriculture’s strong growth has driven job creation within the WC agricultural sector.
These figures confirm that despite C19 and the severe drought, agriculture is resilient in the WC.
