Coronavirus Sends Botswana into Recession
October 20, 20
(IDEX Online) - Botswana, the world's top diamond-producing country by value, has officially entered recession as it battles coronavirus.
One of the biggest factors was the Q2 collapse of diamond mining. Production in carats fell by 67 percent according the latest report by the government's Statistics Botswana.
The country's real GDP for April to June plunged 24 per cent as the global pandemic hit.
Its economy was already in decline the previous quarter, albeit by just 0.8 per cent, but the two consecutive quarters of negative growth officially put it into recession.
Manufacturing across all industries was down 31.3 per cent in real value added during the second quarter of 2020 - largely attributed to the slump in diamond processing and restrictions on alcohol sales during lockdown.
There were no diamond exports at all in May, and only $20m in June, according to earlier data from the Bank of Botswana.
Debswana Diamond Company, the joint venture between the government of Botswana and De Beers that produces most of the country's diamonds, has indicated that 2020 output will be substantially less than original 23m carat forecast.