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Estimates of GDP for third quarter of 1996 released
The preliminary estimates of the expenditure-based gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter of 1996 and revised estimates for earlier periods are released today (Monday) by the Census and Statistics Department.
GDP grew by 5.1% in real terms in the third quarter of 1996 over the same quarter in 1995, following increases of 3.3% and 4.6% in the first and second quarters respectively.
Amongst the major GDP components, private consumption expenditure showed a year-on-year increase of 4.5% in real terms in the third quarter of 1996 over a year earlier. Government consumption expenditure increased by 5.3% in real terms.
On investment spending, gross domestic fixed capital formation recorded a year-on-year increase of 5.8% in real terms in the third quarter of 1996.
Within this, construction output in the public sector decreased by 6.6%, reflecting the peaking of work on the Airport Core Programme. But construction output in the private sector continued to pick up, to a growth of 4.5%. Taken together, overall expenditure on construction registered a slight decrease of 0.7%.
Expenditure on machinery and equipment decelerated from a 15.1% growth in real terms in the second quarter to a 6.5% growth in the third quarter.
As to external trade in goods, re-exports registered a year-on-year growth rate of 8% in real terms in the third quarter of 1996 over a year earlier, while domestic exports decreased by 9.9%.
Taken together, total exports increased by 4.9% in real terms. Imports of goods grew by 3.4% in real terms in the third quarter over a year earlier.
Exports of services increased by 7.1% in real terms in the third quarter of 1996 over a year earlier. The corresponding growth rate for imports of services was only
1.7%.
The implicit price deflator of the GDP, as a broad measure of overall inflation in the economy, rose by 4.6% in the third quarter of 1996 over a year earlier.
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Summaries of the latest expenditure-based GDP figures are presented in Tables