By Aduragbemi Omiyale
In the second quarter of 2024, Nigeria grew its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 3.19 per cent on a year-on-year basis in real terms from the 2.51 per cent posted in the same period of last year, and higher than the 2.98 per cent achieved in the first quarter of this year.
This information was revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Nigerian GDP Report Q2 2024 on Monday.
The economic growth recorded by the country is lower than the 3.42 per cent projected by a leading brokerage firm in Nigeria, Meristem Research.
The stats office noted that the performance of the GDP in the second quarter of 2024 was driven mainly by the Services sector, which recorded a growth of 3.79 per cent and contributed 58.76 per cent to the aggregate GDP.
It stated that the agriculture sector grew by 1.41 per cent, from the growth of 1.50 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2023, noting that the growth of the industry sector was 3.53 per cent, an improvement from -1.94 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2023.
In terms of share of the GDP, the industry and services sectors contributed more to the aggregate GDP in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023.
In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP at basic price stood at N60.930 trillion in nominal terms versus the N52.104 trillion achieved in the second quarter of 2023, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth of 16.94 per cent.
Business Post reports that the real growth of the oil sector was 10.15 per cent (year-on-year) in Q2 2024, indicating an increase of 23.58 per cent points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2023 at -13.43 per cent, contributing 5.70 per cent to the total real GDP in Q2 2024 versus 5.34 per cent it contributed in the corresponding period of 2023 and 6.38 per cent in the preceding quarter.
This occurred as the average daily oil production stood at 1.41 million barrels per day (mbpd), higher than the daily average production of 1.22 mbpd in the same quarter of 2023 by 0.19 mbpd, and lower than the first quarter of 2024 production volume of 1.57 mbpd by 0.16 mbpd.
The NBS stated that the non-oil sector grew by 2.80 per cent in real terms during the reference quarter, lower than the 3.58 per cent in Q2 of 2023 by 0.78 per cent.
The non-oil sector, which contributed 94.30 per cent to the GDP in Q2 of 2024 versus 94.66 per cent in Q2 of 2023 and 93.62 per cent in Q1 of 2024, was driven mainly by Financial and Insurance (Financial Institutions); Information and Communication (Telecommunications); Agriculture (Crop production); Trade; and Manufacturing (Food, Beverage, and Tobacco), accounting for positive GDP growth.