Yemisi Izuora With Additional Report
Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate went down to 2.11 per cent in the fourth quarter in 2015 to 2.84 per cent in the Q3, statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates.
National economy grew at 3.86 per cent and 2.35 per cent in the first and second quarters of 2015.
According to the Q4 report the growth rate was lower by 0.73 per cent relative to the growth recorded in the preceding quarter and by 3.83 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2014.
However, quarter-on-quarter real GDP growth rate increased by 3.10 per cent, the agency said.
During the period in review, aggregate GDP stood at N24.31 trillion (in nominal terms) at basic prices or 6.02 per cent higher than the N22.93 trillion in the fourth 2014.
Nominal GDP growth was also higher relative to growth recorded in Q1 2015 by 0.85 per cent, it added.
Growth in Q4 was largely driven by the non-oil sector, which contributed 91.94 per cent to the nation’s GDP in real terms.
Growth in the non-oil sector was largely driven by the activities of trade, crop production, information and communication, other services and real estate.
The non-oil sector grew by 3.14 per cent in real terms in Q4 2015, representing a rise of 0.08 per cent from the Q3 of 2015 estimates but lower by 3.30 per cent during the corresponding quarter in 2014.
In contrast, non-oil sector growth contracted, as daily oil output fell to 2.16 million barrels per day (mbpd) in the fourth quarter or 0.3 per cent lower than the 2.17mbpd produced in Q3 of 2015.
Oil production was also lower relative to the corresponding quarter in 2014 by 1.0 per cent when output stood at 2.19mbpd.
According to the NBS, real growth of the oil sector slowed by 8.28 per cent (year-on-year) in Q4 of 2015, representing a decline of 1.18 per cent relative to growth recorded in Q4 of 2014.
Growth also declined by 9.33 per cent relative to growth in Q3 of 2015, while quarter-on-quarter, growth also slowed by 19.10 per cent.
Nevertheless, the oil sector contributed 8.06 per cent of total real GDP, down from figures recorded in the corresponding period of 2014 and in Q3 of 2015 by 0.91 per cent and 2.21 per cent respectively.