Overview of KwaZulu-Natal Economy

KZN GGP has grown steadily from 1996 to 2005, peak growth in 2002. The province has grown faster than the national economy since 2000 standing at 3.9% per annum and boasting an estimated GGP of R206bn per annum.
Manufacturing is a key sector in KZN growing in a steady and stable manner, generating 20% of provincial employment.
KZN's manufacturing sector is the second largest in the country after Gauteng Province. 21% of SA manufacturing GGP was KZN based in by 2002 (half the contribution of Gauteng). Specifically, KZN's share of secondary industry GDP was 20% compared to 39% for Gauteng (based on data at 1995 constant prices).
Coal export, commerce, forestry, fruit, manufacturing (chemicals, textiles, paper and paper products), steel, sugar, tourism, transport and communications are sectors having a bigger share of the Provincial GGP. A figure below indicates the distribution of each sector into the economy of the province. Manufacturing and community services are showing greater contribution into the GGP of the province.
Though there is some mining of coal and aluminium happening in this province, the contribution to the economy is still very low, which increases an underlying opportunity to exploit collieries which have closed down or explore unexplored mines. An agreement between Trade and Investment KwaZulu-Natal (TIKZN) and Mintec would see the scanning of available mineral resources in the province to realize investment opportunities in mineral.

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Emphasis on the key contribution made by KZN in the primary sector: the province's share of South Africa's agriculture, forestry and fishing GDP was 24%, 3 percentage points above that of the Western Cape (21%).

Examining KZN's economy on a sectoral level, it is evident that the significance of manufacturing, transport and business service sectors are key role-players - indicating a growing maturity in the province's economic makeup.

Additional information on KwaZulu-Natal Exports

You can access more detailed information on trends relating to exports from KwaZulu-Natal over the last decade, by downloading the "Trade Trends" document - click here to download documents.