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The South African economy is grappling with several challenges, including severe power supply disruptions, unstable commodity prices, a high unemployment rate, and external challenges. Against this backdrop, South Africa's economic growth is projected to decelerate from 1.9 percent in 2022 to 0.4 percent in 2023, before picking up to 1.3 percent in 2024, according to forecasts by GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.  

GlobalData’s recently published report, “Macroeconomic Outlook Report: South Africa,” underscores the ongoing concern of a notably high unemployment rate that is significantly affecting the country’s domestic demand conditions. The unemployment rate, which maintained an average of 33.9 percent in 2021 and 2022, is anticipated to further increase to an average of 34.7 percent for the years 2023 and 2024.

Moreover, the youth unemployment rate in the country stayed above 60 percent from the beginning of 2023 until July 2023. The real household consumption expenditure, which exhibited an average annual growth rate of 3.9 percent in 2021 and 2022, is expected to decelerate to an average of 0.9 percent in 2023 and 2024.