The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday said Nigeria’s recovery from economic recession slowly began in the second quarter of 2017 (Q2 2017) mainly because of oil exports and controlled imports.
The bureau disclosed this in a report published on its website titled, Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report (Expenditure and Income Approach) 2017.
Recall that Nigeria slipped into economic recession in 2016 but returned to positive growth in the second quarter of 2017.
According to the report, “the economic recovery was mainly driven by improved net exports (trade balance), with all other components of real GDP by expenditure remaining negative (except Non-profit Institutions Serving Households (NPISH) consumption, albeit better than 2016.
“This suggests recovery from recession was largely driven by recovery in Nigeria’s main exports which is oil, combined with control in imports, which improved net exports (the only component that grew positively) significantly,” the report stated.
Though there was improvement in the state of the economy in 2017 compared to 2016, the report disclosed that improvements in domestic consumption and business environment are still necessary to further stimulate growth.
The report also showed that real GDP growth turned positive and sustained its acceleration annually from the second quarter of 2017.
Annual real GDP growth rate stood at 0.82 per cent in 2017 signifying economic recovery when compared to –1.58 per cent in 2016.
“Real Household Consumption and Government Consumption Expenditures generally declined in 2017 at –0.99 per cent but improved compared to 2016 at -5.71per cent. Domestic demand was still weak.
“Net Exports grew significantly in real terms in 2017, which was mainly driven by the strong performance in the third quarter. However, this was slower than 2016 at 22 per cent.
“National Disposable Income declined by 1.52 per cent in 2017, majorly due to the continuous decline in the largest component— Operating Surplus which recorded a negative annual growth rate, of –2.11 per cent. Compensation of Employees performed strongly in 2017, at 11.14 per cent annual growth rate,” the NBS added.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can be derived as the value of all goods and services available for final uses and export. GDP at market prices includes net taxes on products; taxes are subtracted to obtain basic price GDP.
