Many emerging markets and developing economies continue to struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, the World Bank says in its June 2021 Global Economic Prospects. For South Africa however, first quarter GDP growth exceeded expectations. Stats SA reports that South Africa's first quarter GDP grew by 4.6% on an annualised basis. However, according to Stats SA data, the South African economy is 2.7% smaller than it was in the first quarter of 2020 despite this being the third consecutive quarter of positive growth. This is reflected in the performance of Durban’s GDP growth. This datastory reflects on the GDP performance of Durban in the first quarter of 2021.