By Dipo Olowookere
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria increased by 3.98 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday in its latest GDP report.
However, this growth was lower than the 4.03 per cent achieved in the third quarter of last year and higher than the 3.87 per cent posted in the fourth quarter of 2020.
According to the stats office, in the full year, the nation printed an economic growth of 3.40 per cent, with the Q4 growth the fifth consecutive since the recession witnessed in 2020 when output contracted by 6.10 per cent and 3.62 per cent in Q2 and Q3 of 2020 respectively as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NBS said in the report released today that the value of real GDP stood at N20.33 trillion in the last quarter of 2021, while the nominal GDP was N49.28 trillion.
Business Post reports that while the oil sector of the economy contributed 5.19 per cent to the real GDP in Q4 2021, the non-oil sector contributed 94.81 per cent to the nation’s GDP in the fourth quarter of 2021.
A breakdown showed that in the period under review, the average daily oil production was 1.50 million barrels per day (mbpd), lower than the 1.56mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2020 and lower than the third quarter 2021 production volume of 1.57mbpd.
It was observed that the real growth of the oil sector was –8.06 per cent (year-on-year) in Q4 2021, indicating an increase by 11.71 per cent points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020.
The stats agency said growth increased by 2.68 per cent points when compared with Q3 2021 which was –10.73 per cent and on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of -24.06 per cent in Q4 2021. Annual growth stood at -8.30 per cent, a rate better than the -8.89 per cent recorded in 2020.
As for the non-oil sector, it improved by 4.73 per cent in real terms last quarter, higher by 3.05 per cent point compared with the rate recorded same quarter of 2020 and 0.71 per cent point lower than the third quarter of 2021.
This sector was driven in the fourth quarter of 2021 mainly by agriculture (crop production); trade; Information and Communication (Telecommunication); and financial and insurance (financial institutions), accounting for positive GDP growth.
Adedapo Adesanya