Mozambique: Business grows but wages shrink at start of second half

Figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE) economic activity report show that economic activity grew in July 2020 even in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, although the remuneration index (which includes wages) fell.

Mozambique recorded a 5% increase in turnover in July thanks to growth in the accommodation, catering and similar sectors (19.8%), the extractive and manufacturing industry and electrical power (15.2%), wholesale and retail trade (9.6%), maintenance and repair of automobiles (1.6%) and other non-financial services (0.7%).

Industrial sector growth was influenced by the extraction of coal, the sugar sector, tobacco industries, metal structures and dairy.

However, the news was not all positive. There was a 4.2% drop in turnover in the transport and storage sector, and also in the remuneration index, which continued a seven-month downward trend with the wages index falling by 5.6% against the previous month.

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“The worsening of the general remuneration index, which is registered for the seventh consecutive month, was the result of declines in the sectors of transport and storage (-10.2%), industry (-9.3%), accommodation, restaurants and similar (-3.9%) and other non-financial services (-0.8%), a trend that was only contradicted by the trade sector, which appreciated 2% compared to the previous month,“ the INE document reveals.

Employment grew by 0.4%, which INE in its report describes as a “slight recovery”. The commerce and other non-financial services sectors grew most in the period under analysis, by 2.7% and 2.3% respectively.

“Comparing the global indexes for July 2020 with those for the same month in 2019, the turnover, employment and remuneration indexes decreased by -2.1%, -9.3% and -10.4% respectively, reflecting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on most of the country’s business sector,” the summary concludes.

By Velsoma Cumbana