Rwanda recorded a growth of 10.9 percent in the economy in 2021, according to the latest report by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).
The NISR report for the year 2021 said that the sustained recovery during the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic managed to reverse the 3.4 percent contraction recorded in 2020.
In 2021, services, agriculture and industry contributed to 48 percent, 24 percent and 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), respectively, while 8 percent was attributed to adjustment for taxes less subsidies on products, said the report.
“Rwanda’s economy in 2021 recorded a sharp bounce after contracting by 3.4 percent in 2020. This was due to the government’s efforts to support the recovery process of businesses severely affected by COVID-19 to quickly resume operations,” said Uzziel Ndagijimana, Rwandan minister of Finance and Economic Planning, at a press conference about the release of the NISR 2021 statistical report held Monday in Kigali, the Rwandan capital.
According to him, Rwanda is looking at prioritizing key sectors such as manufacturing and value chains, agriculture and value chains and construction and value chains, which are expected to significantly contribute to economic growth and recovery.
Yusuf Murangwa, the director-general of NISR, said at the press conference that last year, most sectors recovered beyond their pre-COVID-19 levels apart from export crops, mining, hotels and restaurants, transport and support services that rely on tourism.
Rwanda’s economic growth shrank to 2.3 percent for the financial year 2019-2020 from 8.8 percent recorded the year before, as the COVID-19 outbreak dealt a huge blow to the country’s economic activities. Enditem
