According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.51% (year-on-year, YoY) in real terms in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023. This growth rate is less than the 3.54% recorded in the Q2 2022 and is primarily driven by the services sector, which recorded a growth rate of 4.42 percent in the period and contributed 58.42 percent to the aggregate GDP. 

The July 2023 monthly OPEC oil market report indicates a general increase in international crude oil prices. According to the report, the OPEC reference basket, which reflects the average crude oil prices of OPEC member countries, experienced a month-on-month surge of $5.87 (7.8%), reaching an average of $81.06 per barrel. Concurrently, the ICE Brent front-month contract witnessed a substantial increase of $5.18 (6.9%), reaching $80.16 per barrel.

Nigeria's inflation rate surged by 1.29% points in July 2023 to reach 24.08%, compared to 22.79% in the preceding month, June. This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its latest Inflation and Consumer Price Index report. The rise in inflation can be attributed to the drastic impact of the removal of petroleum subsidies and the consolidation of the official currency rate, which affected the price of fuel, transportation, and the general prices of goods and services in the Nigerian economy.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), in its monthly oil market report for August 2023, revealed that Nigeria’s oil output fell by 13.6 per cent to 1.08 million barrels per day (mb/d) in July 2023. This indicates a 0.16 mb/d decrease from the 1.25 mb/d produced in June.This implies that the country is still operating below its capacity, below the current quota of 1.7 mb/d allocated by OPEC.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its latest World Economic Update released in July 2023, projects that the Nigerian economy will experience slowdown in 2023 and 2024. Nigeria’s economy growth rate stood at 3.3 percent in 2022. However, due to security issues combined with other factors, the IMF stated that the economy is likely to slow down to 3.2 percent and 3.0 percent in 2023 and 2024 respectively. However, these projections place Nigeria's economic growth below the anticipated expansion of 3.5 percent and 4.1 percent for the sub-Saharan Africa region in 2023 and 2024, respectively.