- Daily Oil Production Slumped To 1.56mbpd in 4th Quarter
- Economy Shrank By 1.92% In 2020
Nigeria’s economy emerged from recession in the fourth quarter of 2020, posting a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 0.11% after staying below the waters in the two previous quarters of last year.
Recall Nigeria officially slipped into its worst recession in over three decades on November 21, 2020 when the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) declared a negative GDP growth for the second consecutive time in the third quarter of that year, courtesy the Covid-19 lockdown and the crash in global oil prices.
The last recession came just four years after the 2016 recession in the country, but the Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed had earlier said the country would overcome the recession in the 4th quarter of 2020 or by the first quarter of 2021.
The positive growth reported on Thursday, albeit nominal was a departure from the decline of 3.6% in the third quarter 2020, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on its website.
However, the economy contracted by 1.92% for the full year, the most since 1991, according to International Monetary Fund data.
“Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.11 percent (year-on-year) in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2020, representing the first positive quarterly growth in the last three quarters,” the NBS report read.
“Though weak, the positive growth reflects the gradual return of economic activities following the easing of restricted movements and limited local and international commercial activities in the preceding quarters.
“As a result, while the Q4 2020 growth rate was lower than growth rate recorded the previous year by –2.44 percentage points, it was higher by 3.74 percentage points compared to Q3 2020.
“On a quarter on quarter basis, real GDP growth was 9.68 percent indicating a second positive consecutive quarter on quarter real growth rate in 2020 after two negative quarters.
“Overall, in 2020, the annual growth of real GDP was estimated at –1.92 percent, a decline of –4.20 percentage points when compared to the 2.27 percent recorded in 2019,” NBS report said.
Also, the report indicated that an average daily oil production of 1.56 million barrels per day (mbpd) was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020.
This was lower than the daily average production of 2.00mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2019 by -0.44mbpd and the third quarter of 2020 by –0.11mbpd.
Real growth of the oil sector was –19.76 percent (year-on-year) in Q4 2020 indicating a decrease by –26.12 percent points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2019.
For 2020, the oil sector grew at –8.89 percent compared to 4.59 percent in 2019.
The oil sector contributed 5.87 percent to total real GDP in Q4 2020, down from the corresponding period of 2019 and the preceding quarter, where it contributed 7.32 percent and 8.73 percent respectively.
NBS reported that the non-oil sector grew by 1.69 percent in real terms in Q4 2020, slower than the 2.26 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2019, but better than the –2.51 percent growth rate recorded in the preceding quarter.
