By Dipo Olowookere
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday, February 12, 2019 released Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers for the fourth quarter of 2018.
In the figures released on its website this morning, the stats office said the GDP appreciated by 0.27 percent to settle at 2.38 percent, compared with 2.11 percent posted in the corresponding period of 2017.
The stats office disclosed that Q4 2018 growth indicated a rise of 0.55 percent when compared with the growth rate recorded in Q3 2018, while on a quarter on quarter basis, real GDP growth was 5.31 percent.
The fourth quarter growth performance implies that real GDP grew at an annual growth rate of 1.93 percent in 2018, compared with 0.82 percent recorded in 2017, an increase of 1.09 percent.
During the quarter, aggregate nominal GDP stood at N35.231 trillion, which is higher than N31.275 trillion recorded in Q4 2017, a nominal growth rate of 12.65 percent.
For 2018, nominal GDP was therefore recorded at N127.763 trillion representing a nominal growth rate of 12.36 percent when compared with N113.712 trillion recorded in 2017.
According to the NBS, in the fourth quarter of 2018, average daily oil production stood at 1.91 million barrels per day (mbpd), lower than the 1.95 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2017, and 1.94mbpd in Q3 2018.
The oil sector recorded a real GDP growth rate of –1.62 percent (year-on-year) in Q4 2018, indicating a decline of –12.81 percent relative to the growth rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2017. However, when compared with Q3 2018, growth increased by 1.29 percent and on an annual basis, real GDP growth for the oil sector stood at 1.14 percent as against 4.69 percent recorded in 2017.
The stats office said the oil sector contributed 7.06 percent to real GDP in Q4 2018, down from figures recorded in the corresponding period of 2017 and the preceding quarter, where it contributed 7.35 percent and 9.38 percent respectively.
For 2018, the contribution of the oil sector to aggregate real GDP was 8.60 percent, slightly lower when compared with 8.67 percent in 2017.
On its part, the non-oil sector grew by 2.70 percent in real terms during the fourth quarter of 2018, which is 1.25 percent higher than the growth rate recorded in Q4 2017, and 0.38 percent higher than the growth rate recorded in Q3 2018. On an annual basis, the non-oil sector recorded a growth rate of 2.00 percent in 2018, performing considerably better than 0.47 percent seen in 2017.
It was gathered that the key performing activities during the quarter were information and communication, transportation & storage, arts & entertainment, agriculture and manufacturing.
The non-oil sector contributed 92.94 percent to real GDP in the fourth quarter of 2018, slightly higher than the 92.65 percent seen in Q4 2017. For 2018, annual contribution was recorded at 91.40 percent against 91.33 percent in year 2017.
Key performing activities on an annual basis include transport, information & communication, electricity, water, as well as arts & entertainment.
Adedapo Adesanya