By John Ikani
Nigeria Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.54 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the second quarter of 2022, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported yesterday.
The growth rate indicated a decline when compared to the 5.01 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2021.
According to the NBS, in the period under review, aggregate GDP stood at N45 trillion in nominal terms, higher than the N39.12 trillion recorded in Q2 2021, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth of 15.03 per cent.
The nominal GDP growth in Q2 2022 was higher relative to the 14.99 per cent recorded in Q2 2021 and higher compared to the 13.25 per cent growth recorded in the preceding quarter.
However, the economy was largely driven by the non-oil sector which contributed 93.67 per cent to growth while the oil sector accounted for 6.33 per cent.
The non-oil sector grew by 4.77 per cent in real terms during the reference quarter (Q2 2022), lower by 1.97 per cent compared to the rate recorded same quarter of 2021 and 1.31 per cent points lower than the first quarter of 2022.
The sector was driven by Information and Communication (Telecommunication) which contributed 18.44 per cent to growth in Q2.Others are trade 16.81 per cent, agriculture 23.24 per cent, Financial and Insurance 4.25 per cent, and transport 1.84 per cent
The statistics body noted that the recent inflationary trend and falling oil production had adversely impacted the second quarter 2022 performance.
Inflation
Recall that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate increased to 19.64 per cent on a year-on-year basis in July 2022, the highest since 2005.
This was 2.27 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in July 2021, which was 17.38 per cent.
“This shows that the headline inflation rate increased in July 2022 when compared to the same month in the previous year of July 2021,” the NBS had stated when it released the July 2022 inflation numbers.
Fall in oil production
In the review period, average daily oil production stood at 1.43 million barrels per day (mbpd), lower than the 1.61mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2021 by 0.18 mbpd.
This was also lower than the Q1 2022 production volume of 1.49 mbpd by 0.06mbpd.
However, real growth of the oil sector was –11.77 per cent (year-on-year) in Q2, indicating an increase of 0.89 per cent compared to the Q2 2022.
