Rwanda’s economy grew by 9.8 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, mainly driven by the services sector which contributed 47 percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), official data shows.
According to the latest GDP figures announced on Monday, September 16, by the National Institute of Statistics (NISR) and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the growth at current market prices was estimated at Rwf4,515 billion, up from Rwf3,972 billion in the same period of second quarter of 2023.
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Building on the economic performance of 9.7 percent in first quarter and 9.8 percent in second quarter, the statistics body remained cautious in overall annual growth rate at 6.6 percent. Rwanda’s economy grew by 8.2 percent in 2023.
Yusuf Murangwa, the Minister of Finance, said that the relatively low economic growth projection factors in uncertainty of global shocks, and it would be revised considering performance over the next two quarters.
"Given all the planning we do and the history of climate shocks, our position is conservative because of some unpredictable aspects of the economy, but from the quarterly growth rate, we are very optimistic,” he explained.
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While Rwanda’s services sector remains a key contributor to the country’s economic growth, increasing by 10 per cent, agricultural performance also saw an increase of 7 percent, mainly attributed to a strong harvest of season A of 2024 which increased food crop production by 8 percent.
Ivan Murenzi, the Director General of NISR, said that the growth aligns with consumer prices trend over the past months, "with the good harvest of season A, the prices of food crops have substantially gone down and if that [food as a main component of inflation basket] is stable, the general inflation will go down.”
Industry also experienced growth of 15 percent, primarily driven by an increase in construction activities, and manufacturing which increased by 18 percent and 17 percent, respectively.
However, mining and quarrying activities declined by 2 percent during the period under review, with notable reductions in exports of coltan and cassiterite of 8 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
Manufacturing drives industry performance
According to the new figures, manufacturing growth was buoyed by 18 percent increase in food processing, 28 percent in textiles, clothing, and leather.
Metal products, machinery, and equipment manufacturing increased by 29 percent while production of chemicals, rubber, and plastic products rose by 20 percent.
Murangwa noted that the positive trajectory across sectors should be maintained and built on to achieve the recently approved second National Strategy of Transformation (NST2).