Nigeria’s economic trajectory got a boost in the first quarter of 2024, with GDP surging by 2.98%, setting the stage for a potentially prosperous year ahead.
The country’s GDP growth rate experienced a minor setback in Q1’24, decreasing by 0.48 percentage points from the preceding quarter’s 3.46% growth, to reach 2.98%.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has released its Q1’24 Nigeria GDP report, providing a comprehensive overview of the country’s economic performance in the first quarter of 2024.
NBS said, “Nigeria’s GDP grew by 2.98 percent (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2024.
“This growth rate is higher than the 2.31 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2023 and lower than the fourth quarter of 2023 growth of 3.46 percent.”
The National Bureau of Statistics attributes the country’s GDP performance in Q1 2024 to the robust growth of 4.32% in the Services Sector, which contributed a substantial 58.04% to the national economy.
“The agriculture sector grew by 0.18 percent,from the growth of -0.90 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2023.
“The growth of the industry sector was 2.19 percent, an improvement from 0.31 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2023.
“In terms of share of the GDP, the services sector contributed more to the aggregate GDP in Q1’24 compared to the corresponding Q1’23”, it added.
The Nigerian economy is bifurcated into two key segments: the oil industry and the non-oil sector, which together form the backbone of the country’s economic structure.
According to the NBS, Nigeria’s oil sector saw a slight but significant increase in production during Q1’24, with daily output reaching 1.57 mbpd. This marks a 0.06 mbpd rise from the same quarter in 2023 and a 0.02 mbpd increase from the previous quarter, indicating a steady growth trajectory.
It added, “The rea growth of the oil sector was 5.7 percent (year-on-year) in Q1’24, indicating an increase of 9.91 percentage points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2023(4.21 percent).
“Growth decreased by 6.41 percentage points when compared to Q4’ 2023 which was 12.11 percent.
“On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 13.77 percent in Q1’ 24.
“The Oil sector contributed 6.38 percent to the total real GDP in Q12024, up from the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2023 and up from the preceding quarter, where it contributed 6.21 percent and 4.70 percent respectively.”
On non oil sector, NBS stated: “The non-oil sector grew by 2.8 percent in real terms during the reference quarter (Q1’24).
“This rate was higher by 0.02 percentage points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2023 and 0.28 percentage points lower than the fourth quarter of 2023.
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“This sector was driven in the first quarter of 2024 mainly by Financial and Insurance (Financial Institutions); Information and Communication (Telecommunications); Agriculture(Crop production); Trade; and Manufacturing (Food, Beverage, and Tobacco), accounting for positive GDP growth.
It has been disclosed that the non-oil sector’s share of the country’s GDP in Q1 2024 was 93.62 percent, a figure that represents a slight decrease from the 93.79 percent share recorded in the same quarter of the previous year and a decrease from the 95.3 percent share recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023.