Nigeria’s economy grows 0.51% in Q1 2021 on oil recovery

The nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 0.51 percent in the first quarter of 2021.

This is according to the first-quarter GDP report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Sunday.

Nigeria had recorded an increase of 0.11 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020.

With the latest figure, Nigeria has recorded its second consecutive quarter growth since the economy fell into recession in 2020.

“Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.51% (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2021, marking two consecutive quarters of growth following the negative growth rates recorded in the second and third quarters of 2020,” the report reads.

“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.

“Nevertheless, quarter on quarter, 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.

“In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP stood at N40,014,482.74 million in nominal terms. This performance is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2020 which recorded aggregate GDP of N35,647,406.08 million, indicating a year on year nominal growth rate of 12.25%.

“The nominal GDP growth rate in Q1 2021 was higher relative to 12.01% growth recorded in the first quarter of 2020, as well as the 10.07% growth recorded in the preceding quarter.”

According to the report, the oil sector recorded real GDP growth rate of –2.21 percent (year-on-year) in Q1 2021, indicating a decrease of -7.27 percentage points relative to the growth rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020.

It is also higher when compared to Q4 2020 which recorded –19.76 percent growth rate — growth in Q1 2021 was higher by 17.55 percentage points.

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.

However, the figure was higher than the production volume of 1.56mbpd recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Meanwhile, performance in the non-oil sector declined when compared to previous figures.

“The non-oil sector grew by 0.79% in real terms in Q1 2021, which was -0.75% points lower compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2020, and -0.89% points lower than rates recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020,” it reads.

“Growth 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.”