The value of the goods and services produced in Nigeria in the first three months of 2018 rose by 1.95 per cent according to the National Bureau of Statistics NBS. This implies that Nigeria’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2018 for the first time since the country pulled out of recession last year as the non-oil sector led the growth. The economy grew by 1.95 percent in the first quarter lifted by the non oil sector. That was a slight dip from 2.11 percent year-on-year in the final quarter of 2017. The economy shrank 0.91 percent in the first quarter of 2017.
Growth rates had been bouncing back since the third quarter of 2016, when the recession, its first in 25 years, bottomed out. Nigeria exited that contraction last year largely due to higher oil prices, with the country relying on crude sales for around two-thirds of government revenue. In the first three months of 2018, aggregate goods and services produced in the economy (GDP) stood at N28.464322 trillion in nominal terms. According top NBS “This performance is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2017 which recorded a nominal GDP aggregate of N26.028,356 trillion thus, presenting a positive year on year nominal growth rate of 9.36 per cent. This rate of growth is however lower relative to growth recorded in Q1 2017 by –7.70 per cent at 17.06 per cent but higher than the proceeding quarter by 2.14 per cent at 7.22 per cent.
“To give a clearer depiction, the Nigerian economy has been classified broadly into the oil and non-oil sectors. The Information and Communication sector which is composed of the four activities of Telecommunications and Information Services; Publishing; Motion Picture, Sound Recording and Music Production; and Broadcasting recorded impressive result within the quarter. In nominal terms, the first quarter of 2018 saw the sector grow by 1.79 per cent (year-on-year), a 7.25 per cent decrease from the rate of 9.04 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2017. However, it is 2.34 per cent higher than rate recorded in the preceding quarter. The Quarter on Quarter growth rate was –3.58 per cent. The Information and Communications sector contributed 10.64 per cent to total Nominal GDP in the 2018 first quarter, lower than the rate of 11.43 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2017 but higher than the 10.04 per cent it contributed in the preceding quarter. The sector in the first quarter of 2018 recorded a growth rate of 1.58 per cent in real terms, year on year. From the rate recorded in the corresponding period of 2017, there was a decline by 1.15 per cent Quarter on Quarter, the sector exhibited a growth of –4.15% in real terms. Of total real GDP, the sector contributed 12.41 per cent in 2018 first quarter, lower than in the same quarter of the previous year in which it represented 12.46 per cent but higher than the preceding quarter, in which it represented 11.35 per cent”.
According to NBS “Nominal growth in the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation sector was 0.41 per cent in first quarter 2018 (year-on-year), representing a decrease of 21.06 per cent relative to the same period a year earlier, and a decrease of 3.76 per cent compared with the preceding quarter. On a quarterly basis, growth was recorded at 31.51 per cent, higher than quarter-on-quarter growth of Q4 2017 recorded at 9.54 per cent. The activity contributed 0.28 per cent to total nominal GDP in first quarter 2018, lower than the 0.31% it contributed in Q1 2017 and higher than 0.20% it contributed in fourth quarter of 2017. In real terms, the activity grew by 0.30 per cent year on year, which was lower than the rate recorded in Q1 2017 by 11.37 per cent, and lower by 3.24 per cent when compared with that of the preceding quarter. Quarter on Quarter, growth stood at 31.51 per cent in real terms, higher than quarter-on-quarter growth recorded in Q4 2017 at 9.54 per cent.
In the period under review, the nation recorded an average daily oil production of 2.0 million barrels per day (mbpd), higher than the daily average production recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017 by 0.05 mbpd. Real growth of the oil sector was 14.77 per cent (year-on-year) in Q1 2018. This represents an increase of 30.37 per cent points relative to rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2017. Quarter-on-Quarter, the oil sector grew by 13.24 per cent in Q1 2018. The Oil sector contributed 9.61 per cent to total real GDP in Q1 2018, up from 8.53 per cent and 7.35 per cent recorded in the Q1 2017 and Q4 2017, respectively.
In comparison, non-oil sector grew by 0.76 per cent in real terms during the quarter under review. This was higher by 0.04 per cent point compared to the rate recorded same quarter of 2017 and 0.70 per cent point lower than the fourth quarter of 2017. The report stated the sector’s growth was driven mainly by agriculture (Crop production), financial institutions and insurance, manufacturing, transportation and storage as well as information and Communication. 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 the first quarter of 2017 and 92.65 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2017.
