This brings South Africa’s average economic growth rate for the past four years to 4,5%, indicating that the targets of the accelerated and shared growth initiative (Asgi-SA) are not out of reach. Under Asgi-SA, South Africa aims to raise the average economic growth rate to at least 4,5% in the first phase, between 2005-2009, and then to at least 6% in the second phase, between 2010-2014. Effectively this means that South Africa is already meeting its first-phase target.
The main contributors to the increase in economic activity in 2006 were finance, real estate and business services, wholesale trade, retail trade, hotels and restaurants, manufacturing and transport, and the storage and communication industries. In fact, agriculture aside, South Africa grew by 5,4% in 2006, following an increase of 4,9% and 5,2% in 2004 and 2005 respectively. This is the highest increase since 1980.
