Nigeria's GDP Grew By 1.87% Y-O-Y, As Oil Sector Shake Off COVID-19, Oil Price War

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed in its first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) for 2020, that Nigeria’s gross domestic product grew by 1.87%(year-on-year) in real terms, while the performance for the first three months of 2020 showed a drop of 0.23% points compared to Q1 2019.

The NBS report stated that when the first quarter of this year is compared to the fourth quarter of 2019, 0.68% decline was recorded in performance. Meanwhile, the non-oil sector grew by 1.55% in real terms during the first three months of 2020. However, it was slower when compared to the previous Q1 quarter in 2019 and Q4 2019.

According to the report, the Q1 2020 was slower by -0.93% points when compared to the rate experienced in the first quarter of last year, while the fourth quarter of 2019, when compared to Q1 2020, is –0.72% points lower. The slow rate shows the impact of Coronavirus on the non-oil sector in the last month of Q1 2020.

Recall that Nigeria's economy came close to a standstill when the first Coronavirus case was recorded in late February, leading to a lockdown of sectors including Aviation, manufacturing, informal sector and other non-essential sectors. The lockdown almost paralysed the private sector.

However, in a surprising move, the oil sector posted a real growth rate of 5.06% (year-on-year) in Q1 2020, indicating an increase of 6.51% when compared to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2019. This is despite the crash in oil price caused by COVID-19 and the oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia.