November 26, (THEWILL) – The Services sector has remained the driver of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in recent times, amid worsening unemployment rate. Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 34 percent in 2022.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated in its latest report that the nation’s GDP grew by 2.54 percent (year-on-year) in real terms in the third quarter of 2023.
It revealed that this growth rate is higher than the 2.25 percent recorded in the third quarter of 2022 and also higher than the second quarter 2023 growth of 2.51 percent.
“The performance of the GDP in the third quarter of 2023 was driven mainly by the Services sector, which recorded a growth of 3.99% and contributed 52.70% to the aggregate GDP,” the report stated.
It revealed that the agriculture sector grew by 1.30 percent from the growth of 1.34 percent recorded in the third quarter of 2022. The growth of the industry sector was 0.46 percent, an improvement from -8.00 percent recorded in the third quarter of 2022.
“In terms of share of the GDP, agriculture, and the industry sectors contributed less to the aggregate GDP in the third quarter of 2023 compared to the third quarter of 2022,” the NBS said.
In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP stood at N60,658,600.37 million in nominal terms. This performance is higher when compared to the third quarter of 2022 which recorded aggregate GDP of N52,255,809.62 million, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth of 16.08 percent.
Concerning the role of the oil sector which has remained the major economic live blood of Nigeria.
The NBS said the real growth of the oil sector was –0.85% (year-on-year) in Q3 2023, indicating an increase of 21.83 percent points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022 (-22.67 percent).
Growth also increased by 12.58 percent points when compared to Q2 2023 which was –13.43 percent.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 12.47 percent in Q3 2023. The Oil sector contributed 5.48 percent to the total real GDP in Q3 2023, down from the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2022 and up from the preceding quarter, where it contributed 5.66 percent and 5.34 percent respectively.
Four sub-activities make up the Agricultural sector: Crop Production, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing. The sector grew by 11.06 percent year-on-year in nominal terms in Q3 2023, showing a decrease of 9.02 percent points from the same quarter of 2022.
Looking at the preceding quarter’s growth rate of 11.42 percent, there was a decrease of 0.37 percent points. Crop Production remained the major driver of the sector. This is evident as it accounts for 92.24 percent of the overall nominal value of the sector in the third quarter of 2023.
Quarter-on-quarter growth stood at 45.59 percent in the third quarter of 2023.
Agriculture contributed 26.36 percent to nominal GDP in the third quarter of 2023. This figure was lower than the rate recorded in the third quarter of 2022 and higher than the second quarter of 2023 which recorded 27.55 percent and 21.07 percent respectively
The agricultural sector in the third quarter of 2023 grew by 1.30 percent (year-on-year) in real terms, a decrease of 0.04 percent points from the corresponding period of 2022, and a decrease of 0.20 percent points from the preceding quarter which recorded a growth rate of 1.50 percent. It grew on a quarter-on-quarter basis at 39.74 percent.
However, the sector contributed 29.31 percent to overall GDP in real terms in Q3 2023, lower than the contribution in the third quarter of 2022 and higher than the second quarter of 2023 which stood at 29.67 perceNt and 23.01 percent respectively.
In nominal terms, Other Services grew by 2.19 percent (year-on-year) in Q3 2023. This growth rate was lower than the 4.82 percent growth rate recorded in the same quarter of the previous year and lower than the growth rate of 2.62% in Q2 2023 by 2.63 percent points and 0.43% points respectively. Quarter-on-quarter growth was -10.58 percent.
This sector contributed 1.59 percent to the aggregate nominal GDP in Q3 2023, lower than the 1.81 percent it contributed in the same period of the previous year and lower than the 2.07 percent it contributed in the preceding quarter.
Other Services’ real GDP grew by 0.63 percent (year-on-year) in Q3 2023. This growth was higher by 3.30 percent points than the growth recorded in the same period of the previous year, and lower by 1.06 percent points from Q2 2023.
Quarter-on-quarter growth was -11.87 percent. The sector contributed 2.18 percent to real GDP in Q3 2023, lower than the 2.23 percent recorded for the corresponding quarter of 2022 and lower than the 2.72 percent recorded in Q2 2023.
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