Nigeria’s Economy Expanded By 2.0% In Q1

Nigeria’s economy expanded by 2.0 per cent in the first quarter of 2019, up by 0.12 per cent from the 1.89 per cent expansion recorded in the first quarter of 2018.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported Monday that the 2 per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate, in real terms, in the first quarter of 2019 is a -0.38 per cent declined compared to the growth recorded in the fourth quarter of 2018.

“It is worth noting that general elections were held across the country during the first quarter of 2019 and this may have reflected in the strongest first quarter performance observed since 2015,” NBS stated.

Daily Trust analysis showed that aggregate GDP stood at N31.79 trillion in nominal terms, higher than in the first quarter of 2018 which recorded N28.44 trillion, representing a year on year nominal growth rate of 11.80 per cent.

The aggregate was, lower than in the preceding quarter of N35.23 trillion by -9.75 per cent. Note that the nominal GDP growth rate in Q1 2019 was higher than the rate recorded in Q1 2018 by 2.54 per cent points. Average daily oil production stood at 1.96 million barrels per day (mbpd) in the first quarter of 2019, lower than the average daily production of 1.98 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2018 by -0.02 mbpd but higher than the fourth quarter 2018 production volume by 0.05 mbpd.

NBS noted that the level of oil output during the quarter was the highest recorded over the past one year and the second highest since mid-2017. Real GDP growth in the oil sector was -2.40 per cent (year-on-year) in Q1 2019, indicating a decrease by -16.43% points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2018.

Growth decreased by -0.79 per cent points when compared to Q4 2018 which was -1.62 per cent. Quarter-on-Quarter, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 11.60 per cent in Q1 2019. Analysis showed that the Oil sector contributed 9.14 per cent to total real GDP in Q1 2019, down from 9.55 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2018 but up compared to the preceding quarter, when it contributed 7.06 per cent.