Even though GDP growth rate was an improvement on 2018’s first quarter, it’s worse than the last quarter’s growth.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.01% (year-on-year), in real terms, in the first quarter of 2019, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The Q1 2019 growth rate represented an increase of 0.12% points when compared to Q1 2018 which recorded real GDP growth rate of 1.89%.
However, the real GDP growth rate declined by -0.38% points when compared to Q4 2018 when the growth rate was 2.38%.
“Aggregate GDP stood at N31,794,085.85 million in nominal terms. This aggregate was higher than in the first quarter of 2018 which recorded N28,438,604.23 million, representing a year on year nominal growth rate of 11.80%.
“The aggregate was, however, lower than in the preceding quarter of N35,230,607.63 million, by -9.75%. The nominal GDP growth rate in Q1 2019 was higher than the rate recorded in Q1 2018 by 2.54% points,” the report read.
The oil sector contributed 9.14% to total real GDP in Q1 2019, down from figures recorded in the corresponding period of 2018 but up compared to the preceding quarter, where it contributed 9.55% and 7.06% respectively.
The non-oil sector contributed 90.86% to the nation’s GDP, higher than recorded in the first quarter of 2018 (90.45%) but lower than the fourth quarter of 2018 (92.94%).
In Q1 2019, the non-oil sector was driven mainly by information and communication technology followed by agriculture, transportation and storage, trade and construction.