The Botswana economy continued to slow during the second quarter of 2023, partly because of the slowing global market for rough diamonds. Annual GDP growth in June was 5.0%, down from 5.5% registered in Q1 2023. This is attributable to the slowdown in non-mining private sector (NMPS) growth to 4.3% y-o-y, down from 6.0% y-o-y in Q1 2023, significantly impacted by the fall in diamond trading during the period. In contrast, mining sector growth picked up during the quarter. Annual mining sector growth was 7.5% in Q2 2023, up from 5.0% in Q1 2023. Along with weakened global market for diamonds, the fall in annual GDP reflect the effects of higher growth in 2022 falling out of the GDP calculations.
|