Nigeria’s GDP growth slows by 2.31% in Q1 2023 – NBS

From Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth slowed by 2.31 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 on a year-on-year basis.
The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, made this known the Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report Q1 2023 released in Abuja on Thursday.
However, the growth, the NBS said represented a declined from 3.52 per cent in the preceding quarter and 3.11 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022.
The reduction in GDP performance is attributed to the adverse effects of the cash crunch experienced during the quarter, it noted.
Growth was largely driven by the services sector, which recorded a growth of 4.35 per cent and contributed 57.29 per cent to the aggregate GDP.
The agriculture sector grew by -0.90.per cent, lower than the growth of 3.16 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022.
According to the NBS, although the growth of the industry sector improved to 0.31 per cent relative to – 6.81 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022, agriculture, and the industry sectors contributed less to the aggregate GDP in the quarter under review compared to the first quarter of 2022.
“The agriculture sector grew by -0.90 per cent, lower than the growth of 3.16 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022.
“Although the growth of the industry sector improved to 0.31 per cent relative to – 6.81 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2022, agriculture and the industry sectors contributed less to the aggregate GDP in the quarter under review compared to the first quarter of 2022,” a part of the release said.
The NBS disclosed that the real growth of the oil sector was –4.21 per cent on a year-on-year basis in Q1 2023, indicating an increase of 21.83 per cent relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022 at -26.04 per cent.
It said growth increased by 9.18 per cent when compared to Q4 2022, which was –13.38 per cent, and on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 20.68 per cent in Q1 2023.
The sector, according to the stats office, contributed 6.21 per cent to the total real GDP in Q1 2023, down from the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2022 and up from the preceding quarter, where it contributed 6.63 per cent and 4.34 per cent, respectively.
As for the non-oil sector, it grew by 2.77 per cent in real terms during the reference quarter, lower by 3.30 per cent points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and 1.67 per cent points lower than the fourth quarter of 2022.
This sector was driven in the first quarter of 2023 mainly by Information and Communication (Telecommunication); Financial and Insurance (Financial Institutions); Trade; Manufacturing (Food, Beverage & Tobacco); Construction; and Transportation & Storage (Road Transport), accounting for positive GDP growth.
In real terms, the report showed that the non-oil sector contributed 93.79 per cent to the nation’s GDP in the first quarter of 2023, higher than the share recorded in the first quarter of 2022, which was 93.37 per cent and lower than the fourth quarter of 2022 recorded as 95.66 per cent.