Nigeria’s GDP grew by 0.51% in Q1 2021- NBS

The oil sector accounted for 9.25 percent of aggregate real GDP in Q1 2021- NBS

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.51 percent (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2021 marking two consecutive quarters of growth following the negative growth rates recorded in the second and third quarters of 2020.

This was revealed in the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Sunday.

NBS stated that the Q1 2021 growth rate was slower than the 1.87 percent growth rate recorded in Q1 2020 but higher than 0.11 percent recorded in Q4 2020 indicating  a slow but continuous recovery.

On a quarter on quarter analysis, real GDP grew at -13.93% in Q1 2021 compared to Q4 2020, reflecting a generally slower pace of economic activities at the start of the year.

In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP stood at N40.01 trillion in nominal terms. This performance is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2020 which recorded aggregate GDP of N35.647 trillion, indicating a year on year nominal growth rate of 12.25 percent.

The nominal GDP growth rate in Q1 2021 was higher relative to 12.01 percent growth recorded in the first quarter of 2020 as well as the 10.07 percent growth recorded in the preceding quarter.

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According to the report the oil sector recorded a real GDP growth rate of –2.21 percent (year-on-year) in Q1 2021 indicating a decrease of –7.27 percent points relative to the growth rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020 (5.06%).

Compared to Q4 2020 which recorded a –19.76 percent growth rate, growth in Q1 2021 was higher by 17.55 percent points. Quarter-on-quarter, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 35.65 percent in Q1 2021.

In terms of contribution to aggregate GDP, the Oil sector accounted for 9.25 percent of aggregate real GDP in Q1 2021, slightly lower than 9.5 percent recorded in the corresponding period of 2020 but higher than in the preceding quarter, where it contributed 5.87 percent.

The non-oil sector grew by 0.79 percent in real terms in Q1 2021, which was –0.75% points lower compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2020 and -0.89% points lower than rates recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Growth in the non-oil sector was driven mainly by the Information and Communication (Telecommunication) sector while other drivers include Agriculture (Crop Production); Manufacturing (Food, Beverage & Tobacco); Real Estate; Construction and Human Health & Social Services.

In real terms, the Non-oil sector accounted for 90.75 percent of aggregate GDP in the first quarter of 2021, higher than its share in the first quarter of 2020 which was 90.50 percent but lower than 94.13 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.