In the opposite direction, diamond extraction had positive growth, as a result of the increase in production by companies with a significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Data from the National Account for the third quarter of 2023 show that Financial Intermediation and Insurance, with a variation of -15.5%, were the sectors that recorded the biggest drop in the economy, compared to that recorded in the same period of the quarter past. A negative variation caused particularly by the reduction in the production value of commercial and central banks by 3.2% and 68.8% respectively, with the two sectors having a weight above 70%.
This downward movement led the sectors in question to contribute negatively with 0.28 percentage points (pp) to the total variation in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as indicated by data from the National Statistics Institute (INE). The telecommunications sector also had negative developments in the period in question, having registered a variation of -1.4% in the third quarter of 2023 in relation to the same quarter of the previous year. This drop was motivated by the reduction in production of Telecommunications Tariff Units (UTT), as indicated by the data to which OPAÍS had access. The result of this was a negative contribution of 0.05 pp to the total variation in GDP.
Another sector that registered a negative movement compared to the last quarter of 2023 and the previous quarter is oil, which fell 0.8% in the period in question. The main factor, the data shows, is the drop in extractive activity resulting from the general shutdown of platforms, due to the failure of the gas compression system on the Mafumeira Sul platform, which occurred in the middle of the quarter. This movement led to the overall result being negative, despite positive variations being recorded, as there was a drop in the production of crude oil extraction, which is the driver of the sector with a weight above 90%, as indicated by the data.
Diamonds with positive indicators
Conversely, diamond extraction grew by 41.7% in the third quarter of 2023, compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The sector’s growth was due to the increase in the production of companies, with emphasis on diamond production, representing 84.76% of the total, as indicated by the data, which also reveal the positive contribution of 1.07 pp, in the variation total GDP. This movement in a positive direction, associated with others, such as the case of agricultural activities, which grew 1.7% and fishing, which grew 3.4%, led to the accumulated variation throughout the year, (the accumulated GDP of the year until the third quarter of 2023) has grown 0.6% compared to the same period in 2022.
This positive variation is attributed, fundamentally, to agricultural activities, fishing 3.4%, diamond extraction 10.2%, but also to the manufacturing industry, electricity and water and also to construction. If we look at GDP accumulated over the last four quarters up to the third quarter of 2023, we see that it grew 1.1% compared to the same period in 2022. A positive variation that is mainly attributed to agricultural and forestry activities 2, 1%, fisheries 4.7%, diamond extraction 7.3%, manufacturing products 1.6%, electricity and water 6.7%, construction 2.8%, commerce 2.9%, transport and storage 22.1%, financial and insurance intermediation 5.5%, public administration 2.8%, real estate and rental services 2.8%, and other services 2.4%.