The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported a contraction in Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2020.1 The report stated a contraction of -6.10% in comparison to the 1.87% growth that was recorded in the first quarter of the year. This contraction is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, the consequential decline of output and the crashing of oil prices. Nigeria slowly recovered from recession in 2017 and has been on a gradual path towards growth. However, the current GDP contractions indicate that a second recession could be approaching. Steep declines in GDP growth calls for the diversification of the economy to stimulate growth in various areas including agriculture and agribusiness, manufacturing, and real estate. In addition, overreliance on global value chains particularly in the manufacturing sector should be curbed in order to improve resilience.
September 28, 2020
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 36)
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 1)
GDP growth rate
increased marginally by 2.84 percent in Q3 2015 from 2.35 percent in the preceding
quarter. Nominal GDP increased to N24.3 million from N22.9 million in the
preceding quarter. Growth in this period was attributed to the improved
performance of the non-oil sector which grew by 3.05 percent. The Sectoral disaggregation shows
that the Services and Agricultural sectors grew by 3.97 and 3.46 percent respectively,
while the Manufacturing sector shrank by 1.75 percent.