Nigeria GDP Grows 3.54% as Non-Oil Sector Powers Economy
By Bashir Olanrewaju
Nigeria’s economy grew by 3.54 percent between April and June this year as the non-oil sector powered economic productivity at a time oil production plummeted to record lows.
“This growth rate declined from 5.01% in the second quarter of 2021 when rapid growth was recorded following the toll the COVID-19 pandemic exacted on the economy” the National Bureau of Statistics said in its latest GDP report posted on its website.
The surge in inflation recorded through the period in Africa’s biggest economy also had a negative impact on economic growth, contributing to the 1.47 percent year-on-year decline. The second-quarter performance was, however, an improvement of first quarter figures of 3.11 percent.
While non-oil economic activities rose by 4.77 percent, it was still 1.97 percent off the target it hit a year ago and as well 1.31 percent lower than the first-quarter figures. The main growth drivers were the information and technology, trade and finance, manufacturing and agriculture, accounting in real terms for 93.67 percent of the GDP, an even better performance than the 92.58 percent it turned in in the first quarter.
Oil, for decades the powerhouse of the Nigerian economy, appears to have effectively lost its footing with a negative growth of 11.77 percent year-on-year in the second quarter. It was a 14.27 percent improvement from the first quarter when output fell 26.04 percent. Its contribution of 6.33 percent to the GDP is consistent with a recent trend of decline.