Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya, Dipo Olowookere
The gross domestic product (GDP) of Nigeria grew by 0.51 per cent in the first quarter of 2021, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Sunday night has revealed.
This is the second straight growth the nation’s economy is recording after it slipped into a recession in the third quarter of 2020, Business Post reports.
In the second quarter of last year, the economy contracted by 6.10 per cent and in the third quarter of the year, the GDP declined by 3.62 per cent, resulting in a recession.
However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the economy recorded a 0.11 per cent growth and this officially lifted the country out of recession.
In the report released by the stats office tonight, it was disclosed that the 0.51 per cent growth rate recorded by the economy in the first three months of this year was slower than the 1.87 per cent achieved in the same period of last year.
The NBS disclosed that “in the quarter under review, the aggregate GDP stood at N40,014,482.74 million in nominal terms.”
“This performance is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2020 which recorded aggregate GDP of N35,647,406.08 million, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 12.25 per cent.
“The nominal GDP growth rate in Q1 2021 was higher relative to 12.01 per cent growth recorded in the first quarter of 2020 as well as the 10.07 per cent growth recorded in the preceding quarter,” the reported added.
It was also disclosed that in Q1 2021, the oil sector recorded a real GDP growth rate of –2.21 per cent (year-on-year), indicating a decrease of –7.27 per cent relative to the growth rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020 (5.06 per cent).
The sector contributed 9.25 per cent to the GDP in Q1 2021, slightly lower than 9.5 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2020 but higher than in the 5.78 per cent it contributed in Q4 2020.
In the first three months of this year, the average daily oil production stood at 1.72 million barrels per day (mbpd), or 0.35mbpd lower than the average daily production of 2.07mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2020 but higher than the production volume of 1.56mbpd recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.
As for the non-oil sector, it grew by 0.79 per cent, –0.75 per cent lower than the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2020 and -0.89 cent lower than rates recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The NBS said growth in the non-oil sector was driven mainly by the Information and Communication (Telecommunication) sector while other drivers included Agriculture (Crop Production); Manufacturing (Food, Beverage & Tobacco); Real Estate; Construction and Human Health & Social Services.
In real terms, the sector accounted for 90.75 per cent of the GDP in the first quarter of 2021, higher than its share in the first quarter of 2020 which was 90.50 per cent but lower than 94.13 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.
