- Wednesday March 10th, 2021
- Posted by: inscameroun
- Category:
The third quarter of 2020 was marked by an upturn in economic activity, reflected by GDP growth of 1.0 % compared to the same quarter in 2019.
On the supply side, the trend observed is the result of the upturn in activity in the tertiary sector, which returned to growth (0.7%) after the decline observed in the second quarter. This sector made a 0.4-point contribution to growth compared to -2.7 points in the previous quarter. The primary (0.6%) and secondary (1.3%) sectors, although losing momentum, contributed positively to growth by 0.1 point and 0.3 point respectively.
The progress recorded in the primary sector resulted from the good performance of activities in subsistence farming (3.1%), as well as in animal production, hunting and fishing (3.9%). In contrast, the slowdown observed in this sector was the consequence of the poor performance of activity in the industrial and export branches of agriculture (-4.3%) and sylviculture (-3.2%).
The performance of the secondary sector is sustained by the good performance of activities in the agri-food industries (5.4%) and construction branch (8.9%) with the continuation of infrastructure work in preparation for the organization of 2020 Africa Nations Championship and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The tertiary sector recovered slightly from the fall observed in the second quarter, thanks in particular to the trade, transport and telecommunications branches. However, the poor performance of certain sectors such as hotel industry and catering, which made a negative contribution of 0.3 point to growth in the third quarter, does not yet enable the sector to expect a sustained level of growth.
On the demand side, the upturn in activity during this quarter follows strong investment demand and a moderate performance in final consumption. Investment, driven by its two components, private and public, contributed 5.5 points to GDP growth during this quarter. Final consumption, which is more often a source of growth, grew by only 1.1% during the quarter, well below its usual performance. Its public component made a negative contribution of 0.1 point to growth. In contrast, its private component (0.9 point) made only a small contribution to overall performance. The continued fall in export volumes (-7.6%), which made a negative contribution of 1.5 points to GDP growth, coupled with the significant increase in imports (+14.2%) further widened the trade balance deficit during this quarter.