Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 3.62 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the third quarter of 2020 according to the Nigerian GDP Report (Q3 2020) released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Saturday.
According to the report, cumulatively, the economy has contracted by -2.48 per cent.
“While this represents an improvement of 2.48 per cent over the –6.10 per cent growth rate recorded in the preceding quarter (Q2 2020), it also indicated that two consecutive quarters of negative growth have been recorded in 2020.
“Furthermore, growth in Q3 2020 was slower by 5.90 per cent when compared to the third quarter of 2019 which recorded a real growth rate of 2.28 per cent year on year.”
The NBS said that the performance of the economy in Q3 2020 reflected residual effects of the restrictions to movement and economic activity implemented across the country in early Q2 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It added that as these restrictions were lifted and businesses re-opened and international travel and trading activities resumed, some economic activities returned to positive growth.
It also said that a total of 18 economic activities recorded positive growth in Q3 2020, compared to 13 activities in Q2 2020.
“During the quarter under review, aggregate GDP stood at N39,089,460.61 million in nominal terms.
“This performance was 3.39 per cent higher when compared to the third quarter of 2019 which recorded an aggregate of N37,806,924.41 million.
“This rate was, however, lower relative to growth recorded in the third quarter of 2019 by –9.91 per cent points but higher than the proceeding quarter by 6.19 per cent.”
The NBS classified the Nigerian economy into the oil and non-oil sectors.
For the oil sector, it said that the average daily oil production recorded in the third quarter of 2020 stood at 1.67 million barrels per day (mbpd), or 0.37mbpd lower than the average production recorded in the same quarter of 2019 and 0.14mbpd lower than production volume recorded in the second quarter of 2020.
It added that real growth for the oil sector was –13.89 per cent (year-on-year) in Q3 2020, indicating a sharp contraction of –20.38 per cent relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2019.
Furthermore, real oil growth decreased by –7.26 per cent when compared with oil sector growth recorded in Q2 2020 which was 6.63 per cent.
“Quarter on quarter, however, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 9.64 per cent in Q3 2020.
“The sector contributed 8.73 per cent to total real GDP in Q3 2020, down from 9.77 per cent and 8.93 per cent respectively recorded in the corresponding period of 2019 and the preceding quarter, Q2 2020.”
For the non-oil sector, the NBS said it grew by –2.51 per cent in real terms during the reference quarter, which is –4.36 per cent lower than the rate recorded in Q3 2019 but 3.54 per cent higher than in the second quarter of 2020.
According to the report, the non-oil sector was driven mainly by Information and Communication (Telecommunications), with other drivers being Agriculture (Crop Production), Construction, Financial and Insurance (Financial Institutions), and Public Administration.
It added that in real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 91.27 per cent to the nation’s GDP in the third quarter of 2020, higher than its share in the third quarter of 2019 (90.23 per cent) and the second quarter of 2020 (91.07 per cent).
For the performance of major economic sectors, in real terms, the mining and quarrying sector grew by –13.22 per cent (year-on-year).
Compared to real growth rates recorded in the same quarter of 2019 and the second quarter of 2020, this was lower by -19.41 per cent and –6.62 per cent respectively.
The contribution of mining and quarrying to real GDP in the quarter under review stood at 8.91 per cent, lower than the rate of 9.90 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2019 and the 9.08 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2020 respectively.
However, crude petroleum and natural gas was the main contributor to the sector, accounting for 93.10 per cent of total sector output in Q3 2020.
For agriculture crop production, livestock, forestry and fishing make up the four sub-activities of the sector.
The sector grew by 13.52 per cent year-on-year in nominal terms, showing a decline of –1.36 per cent from the same quarter of 2019.
Compared to growth in the preceding quarter (19.90 per cent), this represented a drop of –6.38 per cent.
“Agriculture contributed 28.41 per cent to nominal GDP in the third quarter of 2020.
“This figure was higher than the rates recorded for the third quarter of 2019 and higher than the second quarter of 2020 which recorded 25.88 per cent and 23.92 per cent respectively.”
The manufacturing sector contracted by -1.51 per cent in Q3 2020 from -8.78 per cent in Q2 2020 and 1.1 per cent in Q3 2019.
In nominal terms, manufacturing sector GDP growth, in the Q3 2020, was recorded at 13.54 per cent (year-on-year), -26.15 per cent lower than the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2019 at 39.69 per cent and 13.68 per cent points higher than the preceding quarter’s figure of -0.14 per cent.
Quarter on quarter growth of the sector was recorded at 32.13 per cent, the report said.
It added that the contribution of manufacturing to nominal GDP in Q3 2020 was 13.56 per cent, higher than in the corresponding period of 2019 (12.34 per cent) and the second quarter of 2020 (11.79 per cent).
