The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria’s economic growth rate decelerated marginally in the first quarter of this year, expanding by just 1.95 percent.
The Bureau, in its latest report on the nation’s GDP published on Monday showed that the figure was higher when compared with the -0.91 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of last year, indicating an increase of 2.87 per cent points.
However, the GDP growth decreased by -0.16 percent points from 2.11 percent recorded in Q4, 2017.
The NBS stated: “This performance is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2017 which recorded a nominal GDP aggregate of N26.028 trillion thus, presenting a positive year on year nominal growth rate of 9.36%.
“This rate of growth is however lower relative to growth recorded in Q1 2017 by -7.70% points at 17.06% but higher than the preceding quarter by 2.14% points at 7.22%.”, the Bureau stated.
A further analysis of the GDP growth rate on sector-by-sector basis showed that oil sector contributed 9.61 percent of the total while the non- oil sector accounted for the 90.39 percent.
The Bureau reported that real growth of the oil sector was 14.77 per cent (year-on-year) in the quarter under review, indicating an increase of 30.37 percent points relative to rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2017.
According to the report, the quarter-on-quarter trend showed that the sector grew by 13.24 percent in Q1, 2018, up from 8.53 percent in the corresponding quarter of last year and 7.35 per cent in Q4, 2017.
Similarly, the non-oil sector recorded 0.76 per cent in real terms during the quarter under review, representing 0.04 per cent point higher than the rate it recorded in the corresponding quarter of last year and 0.70 per cent point lower than the Q4, 2017 growth rate.
The agency pointed out that in real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 90.39 per cent to the nation’s GDP, lower than 91.47 per cent recorded in Q1, 2017 and 92.65 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of last year.
The Bureau attributed the sector’s growth to agriculture, financial institutions and insurance, manufacturing, transportation and Information and Communication technology sectors.
