The gross domestic product (GDP) of the country took a slight bump of 0.51 percent in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the 0.11 percent increase recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020, data from Nigeria’s data bank has shown.
Based on a quarter on quarter analysis, real GDP grew at 13.93% in Q1 2021 compared to Q4 2020, reflecting a generally slower pace of economic activities at the start of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated in its first-quarter GDP report released on Sunday.
Nigeria’s GDP majorly comprises of the contributions from the oil and non-oil sectors.
According to the recent data, the oil sector accounted for 9.25 percent of aggregate real GDP in Q1 2021, slightly lower than 9.5 percent recorded in the corresponding period of 2020 but higher than in the preceding quarter, where it contributed 5.87 percent.
The contribution from the oil sector can be traced to the 9.3 percent increase in the average daily oil production volume in the first quarter of 2021 compared to that of the fourth quarter of 2020.
“In the first quarter of 2021, average daily oil production stood at 1.72 million barrels per day (mbpd), or 0.35mbpd lower than the average daily production of 2.07mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2020 but higher than the production volume of 1.56mbpd recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.”
On the other hand, non-oil sector accounted for 90.75 percent of aggregate GDP in the first quarter of 2021, higher than its share in the first quarter of 2020 which was 90.50 percent but lower than 94.13 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.
The NBS report further stated that the rowth in the non-oil sector was driven mainly by the Information and Communication (Telecommunication) sector while other drivers include Agriculture (Crop Production); Manufacturing (Food, Beverage & Tobacco); Real Estate; Construction and Human Health & Social Services.
According to NBS, Nigeria’s Gross GDP growth of 0.51% marked two consecutive quarters of growth following the negative growth rates recorded in the second and third quarters of 2020.
The Q1 2021 growth rate was slower than the 1.87% growth rate recorded in Q1 2020 but higher than 0.11% recorded in Q4 2020, indicative of a slow but continuous recovery.
