Angolan economy shows limited growth in Q1 2023 as oil prices fall

The Angolan economy experienced minimal growth in the first quarter of 2023, largely impacted by the decline in oil prices.

According to the Angolan National Statistics Institute (INE), the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) registered a year-on-year growth of 0.3 percent and a quarterly contraction of 1.1 percent.

This is the first time since Q2 2021 that the quarterly GDP has slipped into negative territory, as reported in the Quick Information Sheet accessed by Lusa.

The primary reason for the negative quarterly variation and sluggish growth in Q1 2023 was the decrease in oil exploration and refining activity, which contributed to a decline of 1.11 percentage points.

Additionally, transportation and storage, diamond mining, fishing, and financial and insurance intermediation negatively impacted the GDP.

Year-on-year, the Gross Value Added (GVA) of petroleum experienced an 8.0% decline in Q1 compared to the same period in 2022, exerting a negative influence of 2 percentage points on the overall GDP variation.

This drop was attributed to planned and unplanned production losses due to operational factors, as stated by the INE.

However, there were positive performances in certain sectors. GVA grew by 22.9% quarter-on-quarter, contributing positively by 0.32 percentage points to the overall GDP variation.

This growth was primarily driven by the industrial production of diamonds from the Luaxe and Tchegi mines.

Agriculture also showed a positive performance, while fisheries were affected by factors such as reduced marine catches due to species migration caused by climatic conditions.

Transportation experienced the highest year-on-year growth rate (27.1% in Q1 2023), contributing positively by 0.81 percentage points to the overall change in GDP.

This increase was attributed to the sector’s exponential growth resulting from higher frequencies of regional and intercontinental flights and an expanded bus fleet, according to the INE.

More: Angola news in English, every day from The Rio Times.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error