COVID-19: Nigeria’s economy shrinks by 6.1% in Q2

Nigeria’s gross domestic product shrunk by six percent in the second quarter of 2020, a new report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown.

According to the report which was released on Monday, Oil GDP contracted by -6.63 percent from 5.06 percent in the first quarter and 5.15 percent in the second of 2019.

Non-oil GDP was also reported to have contracted by -6.05 percent from 1.55 percent in the first quarter of 2020 and 1.64 percent in the second quarter of 2019.

This is the first time in three years that Nigeria’s economy will record a negative growth after its exit from the 2016 recession.

“The decline was largely attributable to significantly lower levels of both domestic and international economic activity during the quarter, which resulted from nationwide shutdown efforts aimed at containing the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report read.

“The domestic efforts ranged from initial restrictions of human and vehicular movement implemented in only a few states to a nationwide curfew, bans on domestic and international travel, closure of schools and markets etc., affecting both local and international trade.

“The efforts, led by both the federal and state governments, evolved over the course of the quarter and persisted throughout.”

Nigeria recorded its first COVID-19 case on February 27 and went into lockdown to slow down the spread of the coronavirus in March.

The country has begun to open up with the resumption of domestic flights, reopening of restaurants and hotels.

International flights are also scheduled to resume on August 29.

Already, there are projections that Nigeria’s economy will record its second recession in four years; one that is estimated to be its worst in 30 years.

A recession is a situation where there is negative GDP growth for two consecutive quarters.