The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate contracted by –6.10 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the second quarter of the year (Q2 2020), according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The decline ends the three-year trend of low but positive real growth rates recorded since the 2016/17 recession, the statistical agency said Monday.
According to Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report – Q2 2020 released by the NBS, the decline was largely attributable to significantly lower levels of both domestic and international economic activity during the quarter, which resulted from nationwide shutdown efforts aimed at containing the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NBS said: “The domestic efforts ranged from initial restrictions of human and vehicular movement implemented in only a few states to a nationwide curfew, bans on domestic and international travel, closure of schools and markets etc., affecting both local and international trade. The efforts, led by both the federal and state governments, evolved over the course of the quarter and persisted throughout.”