Economic Activity Accelerates in Q3 2024
According to the latest national quarterly accounts published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), economic activity has accelerated in the third quarter of 2024. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in volume terms has grown at a rate of 1.8% year-over-year and 0.8% quarter-over-quarter. As a result, the growth rate for the first nine months of the year stands at 1.0%.
This moderate upswing is largely driven by the strong performance of the agricultural sector, which saw its value-added increase by 10.6% in the third quarter (year-over-year). Its contribution to the overall economy's growth rate reached 0.83% of the 1.8% recorded.
The manufacturing industries also performed well, with a growth rate of 1.6%. The agri-food and chemical industries were significant contributors to this trend, each growing by 3.0%. The mechanical and electrical industries benefited from increased external demand, allowing them to increase their value-added by 2.8%.
On the other hand, activities related to energy, mining, water production and distribution, sanitation, and waste management disappointed, declining by 10.4% due to the slowdown in the oil and gas extraction sector (-19.8%). Overall, the industry sector negatively contributed to growth, with a decline of 1.5%.
As for services, they grew by 1.4% thanks to a good tourist season (+6.1% year-over-year), which boosted transportation (+1.3%). The information and telecommunications sector also saw a significant increase of 1.5%.
To achieve a growth rate of 1.6% for the entire year 2024, a value-added growth rate of 3.3% year-over-year is required in the fourth quarter, which seems challenging.
