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The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.01 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019. The latest GDP figure is 0.12 percentage points higher than the 1.89 per cent recorded in Q1 2018.

However, the real GDP growth rate for Q1 2019 declined by 0.37 percentage points compared with the Q4 2018 GDP growth rate of 2.38 per cent.

According to the NBS, this is the strongest first-quarter performance observed since 2015. The national statistics agency noted that activities during the general elections, which held across the country during the first quarter, might have contributed to the performance of the latest GDP figure.

The Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report for Q1 2019 released today shows that the country’s aggregate GDP in nominal terms stood at ₦31.8 trillion, higher than the ₦28.4 trillion reported in Q1 2018 and represents a nominal growth rate of 11.80 per cent. It is, however, lower than the ₦35.2 trillion recorded in Q4 2018, representing a -9.75 per cent decrease.

The latest GDP figure shows that the oil sector accounted for 9.14 per cent of the total real GDP in Q1 2019, up from the 7.06 per cent it contributed in the preceding quarter. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 11.60 per cent.

Average daily oil production in Q1 2019 stood at 1.96 million barrels per day (mbpd), a decline from the 1.98 mbpd recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2018 but 0.05 mbpd higher than the 1.91 mbpd recorded in Q4 2018.

NBS reported that the non-oil sector grew by 2.47 per cent in real terms in Q1 2019, representing 1.72 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in Q1 2018. The non-oil sector contributed 90.86 per cent to the country’s GDP in Q1 2019, compared with the 90.45 per cent recorded in Q1 2018 and 92.94 per cent recorded in Q4 2018. According to the report, the key performing areas in the non-oil sector were information and communication technology, agriculture, transportation and storage, and trade and construction.