Nigeria’s economy surpasses IMF’s projection, grows by 2.27%

Nigeria’s gross domestic product grew by 2.27% in 2019, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics has shown.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had projected that the nation’s economy would grow by 2.1% in 2019.

According to the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product report released by the bureau on Monday, the economy grew by 2.55% in the fourth quarter of 2019.

The growth recorded in the fourth quarter is the strongest since the economy slipped into a recession in 2016.

“Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.55% (year-on-year) in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2019,” the report read.

“Compared to the fourth quarter of 2018 which recorded a growth rate of 2.38%, this represents an increase of 0.17% points and an increase of 0.27% points when compared with the third quarter of 2019.

“The strong fourth quarter 2019 growth rate also represented the highest quarterly growth performance since the 2016 recession.”

The oil sector grew by 6.36% on a year on year basis in the fourth quarter with an average daily oil production of two million barrels per day during the quarter.

“Real growth of the oil sector was 6.36% (year-on-year) in Q4 2019 indicating an increase of 7.98% points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2018. Growth decreased by –0.13% points when compared to Q3 2019 which was 6.49%.

“The oil sector contributed 7.32% to total real GDP in Q4 2019, up from figures recorded in the corresponding period of 2018 but down compared to the preceding quarter, where it contributed 7.06% and 9.77% respectively. Oil contributed 8.78% to real GDP in 2019.

“The non-oil sector grew by 2.26% in real terms during the reference quarter (Q4 2019). This was lower by –0.44% points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2018 but 0.42% point higher than the third quarter of 2019.”

On a year-on-year basis, the agricultural sector grew by 2.31% in the fourth quarter, a decrease by –0.14 percentage points from the corresponding period of 2018, but an increase of 0.03 percentage points from the third quarter of 2019.