Botswana’s real GDP (gross domestic product) shrank by 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, largely as a result of the global slump in diamond demand. It rose by 5.3 per cent in the same quarter of 2023.iamond production – which accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s export revenue – fell by 27.3 per cent, according to government-run Statistics Botswana.

The real value added by diamond traders recorded a negative growth of 46.8 per cent, compared to a 3.7 per cent increase in the same period last year. The mining and quarrying sector saw its real value fall by 24.8 per cent.The downturn in GDP was “primarily influenced by a decrease in real value added of the diamond traders, mining & quarrying, water & electricity, and manufacturing industries,” the report said. “Conversely, all other industries experienced positive growth rates of 0.5 percent and above.”

Earlier this month Botswana’s central bank warned that the country may fall short of a target set earlier this year for the economy to grow by 4.2 per cent.