In a statement, the Western Cape government says: “it has once again demonstrated its economic resilience, emerging as South Africa’s top-performing province in terms of economic growth over the past decade”.

The province was responding to data on provincial Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates released by Stats SA.

According to the Western Cape government: “The province’s economy grew by 8.7% between 2014 and 2024, ahead of Gauteng (7.7%) and KwaZulu-Natal (7.5%)…Despite challenging national macroeconomic conditions, including sluggish investment, infrastructure constraints, and persistent unemployment, the Western Cape recorded a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.83%, outperforming all other provinces…and comparing favourably to the national average of 0.67% over the same period.”

Provincial economic head, Ivan Meyer, said: “This report confirms that the Western Cape is the engine of economic growth in South Africa…Our focus on good governance, infrastructure investment, and sectoral development is yielding results.”

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said: “We must maintain this momentum if we are to boost growth and job creation. To achieve stronger growth, we remain committed to working even harder in building our province’s economic foundation through stable governance, fiscal discipline, and by attracting more investment to this region.”

“As we celebrate our achievements, we remain committed to addressing the challenges in our secondary sectors,” Meyer added. “We will continue to work with industry stakeholders to unlock growth, create jobs, and build a resilient, inclusive economy.”