Tue Mar 1, 2016/Reuters

South Africa’s economy grew by 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015 after rising 0.7 percent in the three months to September, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday.

Gross domestic product also expanded by 0.6 percent on an unadjusted year-on-year basis in the fourth quarter, compared with 1 percent growth in the previous three months, the agency said.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a quarter-on-quarter GDP increase of 0.8 percent and an expansion of 0.4 percent year-on-year.

The economy grew by 1.3 percent in 2015 compared with 1.5 percent in 2014, the agency said.

(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Writing by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by James Macharia)