KIGALI, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Rwanda's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 8.6 percent in 2018 due to "strong" performance of agriculture, industry and service sectors, the national statistics body said on Friday.
The 2018 annual growth of 8.6 percent is a buildup of 10.4 percent for the first quarter, 6.8 percent for the second quarter, 7.7 percent for the third quarter and 9.6 percent for fourth quarter, said Yusuf Murangwa, director general of the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, while releasing the latest GDP figures to reporters in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.
The agriculture sector increased by 6 percent and contributed 1.6 percentage points to the overall GDP growth while the industry sector rose 10 percent and contributed 1.8 percentage points to the GDP, Murangwa said.
The service sector surged 9 percent and contributed 4.3 percentage points to the GDP, he said.
Within the manufacturing sector, food processing increased by 10 percent, locally-made products such as textiles, clothes and leather products increased by 26 percent and manufacturing of metal products increased by 38 percent, he added.
Rwanda's economy is projected to grow by 7.8 percent in 2019, based on the economy's robust performance registered in 2018, the country's central bank said in February.
