ICT adds P1.2b to GDP

Statistics Botswana has revealed that the local ICT sector contributed 2.7 percent of total GDP at current prices during the first quarter of 2022. On the other hand, the postal and courier services amounted to 0.1 percent of total GDP. At constant prices, the ICT sector contributed P1.2 billion of value added which is 2.5 percent of total GDP. The postal and courier services sector produced a value-added of P45 million at constant prices, thus contributing 0.1 percent of total GDP. During the period, a total of 90,518 fixed telephone line subscriptions were registered to indicate a decline of 31.7% from the 132,457 which was registered in the fourth quarter of 2021. Mobile cellular telephone subscriptions however increased within the same period. They rose from 4,160,553 subscriptions in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 4,243,124 in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of two percent. Internet subscriptions, decreased in the first quarter of 2022. They went down by 0.4 percent from the 2,557,538 subscriptions realised in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 2,547,335.