Nigeria’s GDP Grows By 3.11% In Q1

Nigeria’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) grew by 3.11 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2022, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated in a report that was released yesterday.

Based on that, the government statistics office said there is “a sustained positive growth for six consecutive quarters” since the recession witnessed in 2020 when negative growth rates were recorded in quarter two and three of 2020.

According to the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, 91 million Nigerians now live below the poverty line. Nigeria’s unemployment rate currently stands at 33.3 per cent, with youth unemployment at 42.5 per cent. Nigeria’s inflation rate jumped to 16.82 per cent in April 2022.

But the NBS said first quarter 2022 growth rate further represents an improvement in economic performance. The observed trend since Q4 2020 is an indication of a gradual economic stability.

The Q1 2022 growth rate was higher than the 0.51 per cent growth rate recorded in Q1 2021 by 2.60 per cent points and lower than 3.98 per cent recorded in Q4 2021 by 0.88 per cent points. Nevertheless, quarter-on-quarter, real GDP grew at -14.66 per cent in Q1 2022 compared to Q4 2021, reflecting a lower economic activity than the preceding quarter. In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP stood at N45,317,823.33 million in nominal terms.

This performance is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2021 which recorded aggregate GDP of N40,014,482.74 million, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 13.25 per cent.

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The nominal GDP growth rate in Q1 2022 was higher relative to the 12.25 per cent growth recorded in the first quarter of 2021 and higher compared to the 13.11 per cent growth recorded in the preceding quarter.

The non-oil sector grew by 6.08 per cent in real terms during the reference quarter (Q1 2022). The rate was higher by 5.28 per cent points compared to the rate recorded same quarter of 2021 and 1.34 per cent points higher than the fourth quarter of 2021.

The sector was driven in first quarter 2022 mainly by Information and Communication (Telecommunication); Trade; Financial and Insurance (Financial Institutions); Agriculture (Crop Production); and Manufacturing (Food, Beverage & Tobacco), accounting for positive GDP growth.

The Nigerian economy is classified into the oil and non-oil sectors. The real growth of the oil sector was –26.04 per cent (year-on-year) in Q1 2022 indicating a decrease of 23.83 per cent points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021. Nigeria’s economy is majorly driven by the oil sector.

The nation in the first quarter of 2022 recorded an average daily oil production of 1.49 million barrels per day (mbpd), lower than the daily average production of 1.72mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2021 by 0.23mbpd and lower than the fourth quarter 2021 production volume of 1.50mbpd by 0.01mbpd.

Quarter-on-quarter, the nation’s agriculture sector growth stood at -19.75 per cent in first quarter of 2022. Agriculture contributed 21.09 per cent to nominal GDP in the first quarter of 2022. This figure was lower than the rate recorded for the first quarter of 2021 and lower than the fourth quarter of 2021 which recorded 21.42 per cent and 24.17 per cent respectively.

The sector contributed 22.36 per cent to overall GDP in real terms in Q1 2022, higher than the contribution in the first quarter of 2021 and lower than the fourth quarter of 2021 which stood at 22.35 per cent and 26.84 per cent respectively.