SA’s economy breaks out of recession with 2.5% GDP growth

South Africa’s economy is officially out of a technical recession with a GDP growth of 2.5% in the second quarter of this year, statistician-general Pali Lehohla announced on Tuesday.

In June, Stats SA showed the economy was in recession after growth contracted 0.7% in the first quarter of 2017 following a contraction in the fourth quarter of 2016. In the same month, unemployment also spiked to a 13-year high of 27.7%.