Nigeria's GDP for Q3 falls to the lowest level since the pandemic at 2.25%

By: Damian Okonkwo

Nigeria has recorded a slowdown in the growth rate of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with its total GDP for the third quarter (Q3) of 2022, falling to 2.25% year-over-year (YoY). This shows a massive decline by 1.78% when compared to the previous record of 4.03% growth witnessed the previous year (Q3 2021).

The growth rate in Q3 marks the lowest level seen so far in 2022, after it recorded 3.11% in Q1, followed by 3.54% in Q2 before falling to 2.25% in Q3.

According to the report released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) last week's Thursday, the slowdown in the current GDP for Q3 2022 could be attributed to downturns from the recession and the turbulent economic conditions that have slowed down growth and development within the country.

However, the body further noted that there was an improvement in the GPD on a quarterly basis which grew by 9.68% when compared to the previous quarter of 2021.

Thus, the nominal GDP for Q3 2022 was given as N52.26 Trillion which is by far higher than the N45.11 Trillion recorded in Q3 2021. This marks an over 15.83% growth compared to the 15.41% growth rate recorded in Q3, 2021

The slowest growth rate came from the oil sector which recorded a negative growth of -22.67% YoY marking an over 11.94% decrease compared to the previous record in Q3 2021.

This was followed by the mining sector which declined by -21.31% marking a 10.75% decline compared to its previous record in Q3 2021.

A major improvement came from the non-oil sectors which includes: ICT, agriculture, Transportation, Real Estate, etc.

The first major improvement came from the ICT sector which grew by 15.35% compared to the previous growth of 14.20% recorded in Q3 2021.

Next was the Agricultural sector which grew by 1.34% YoY marking an increase of 0.12% when the record in Q3, 2021.

The overall contributions from the non-oil sector rose to 94.34%.

In sum, the present report has shown that country's GDP is currently at its lowest level since the pandemic. This means there has been a massive decline in productivity within the country during the just concluded quarter. The growth rate for the GDP for Q3 also stands out as the lowest growth within the past six quarters.