The recent report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), revealed that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector contributed 16.66 per cent to Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Q4, 2023.
This is an increase from the 16.22 per cent recorded during the same period the previous year.
According to NBS data released on Friday, the real-term growth rate of the ICT sector was 6.33 per cent on an annual basis, adding that the telecommunications sub-sector, which made over 14 per cent of the GDP in actual terms, was a major driver of this.
The ICT sector comprises the four activities of Telecommunications and Information Services; Publishing; Motion Picture, Sound Recording, and Music Production; and Broadcasting.
The NBS statistics also revealed that in the fourth quarter of 2023, the ICT sector contributed 12.52 per cent to the total nominal GDP, which was greater than the rate of 10.42 per cent in the same quarter of 2022 and more than the 11.57 per cent it contributed the previous quarter.
In nominal terms, the sector grew by 39.57 percent year over year, up 18.16 per cent points from the 21.41 per cent growth rate in the same quarter of 2022 and 0.70 per cent points less than the rate in the previous quarter.
On active subscriptions, the NBS data revealed that active subscriptions for voice telecommunications services in Nigeria rose to 224.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, representing an increase of 0.96 per cent compared to the 222.5 million reported in the fourth quarter of 2022.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the report showed that active voice subscribers increased by 1.32 per cent from the 221.7 million recorded in Q3 2023.
According to the data, active subscriptions in Nigeria stood at 163.8 million in Q4 of 2023 compared to the 154,847,901 reported in Q4 of 2022, representing a 5.81 per cent increase in active internet subscriptions year-on-year, while on a quarter-on-quarter basis, active internet subscribers grew by 2.29 per cent from the 160.17 million recorded in Q3 of 2023.
On state-by-state analysis, the report showed that Lagos state had the highest number of active voice subscribers in Q4 2023 with 26.7 million followed by Ogun with 13 million and Kano with 12.3 million.
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