ABUJA: The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, said that Nigeria, in the second quarter of 2015, recorded the lowest growth in real Gross Domestic Product, GDP, since 2011.
The GDP, which is termed as the most important indicator of economic wellbeing of a nation, is the total value of all goods and services available for use and export in a country for a given period.
The bureau said Nigeria’s total expenditure on GDP, measured in real terms on year-on-year basis, increased by 2.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2015, with growth in the same period in 2014 put at 6.47 per cent.
The NBS said in its latest Nigerian GDP Report released in Abuja that expenditure on GDP in real terms (at 2010 prices) stood at N16.62 billion in the second quarter of 2015, compared with N16.3 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2014.
“Expenditure on GDP in real terms (at 2010 prices) stood at N16,623.05 billion in the second quarter of 2015, compared with N16,249.37 billion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2014, representing a growth rate of 2.30 percent.
“This is the lowest growth in real GDP recorded since 2011; growth in the same period in 2014 was 6.47 percent,” the report said.
The report also said in nominal terms, household final consumption expenditure rose from N14.9 billion in the second quarter of 2014 to N17.1 billion in the second quarter of 2015, representing a growth of 14.7 per cent, which is higher than growth in total nominal GDP.
GDP at current market value of goods and services nominal change on year-on-year basis increased by 5.12 per cent, from N21.96 billion in the second quarter of 2014, to N23.08 billion in the second quarter of 2015.
The report said the growth rate was higher than the previous quarter, but lower than the average growth rate in 2014, largely driven by the recent fall in global crude oil prices, which also negatively Nigeria’s net exports.
“In the second quarter of 2015, crude oil accounted for 73.68 per cent of the value of all merchandise exports.
“Therefore the dramatic fall in oil prices, which began in the third quarter of 2014, necessarily had a large effect on this component of expenditure, and helps to explain why net exports have been negative since this time.
“The price of crude oil nearly halved between the third quarter of 2014 and the second quarter of 2015.
“Oil revenue also accounts for a large portion of government revenue, which could also explain why government final consumption contributed negatively to growth,” the report said.
Consumption expenditure of households accounted for 74.04 per cent of total expenditure on GDP at nominal market prices, expenditure of households on year-on-year basis recording a growth rate of 11.79 per cent, from by 8.78 per cent.
In real terms, the growth was from N9.7 billion in the second quarter of 2014 to N10.8 billion in the second quarter of 2015, the strongest growth since the last quarter of 2013. Household consumption remains lower than its peak of N18.3 billion.
General government expenditure on year-on-year basis fell by 14.83 per cent, relative to the corresponding figure in second quarter of 2014. The figure decreased by 11.81 per cent, representing 5.87 per cent of the total expenditure on nominal GDP.
Nominal expenditure on Gross Fixed Capital Formation (Investment) increased on the year, but by a smaller degree than in the first quarter of 2015, with investment in non-residential buildings, which is the main driver in growth for the second quarter of 2015.
Other components, such as transport equipment and machinery, the report said, recorded declines. These trends were mirrored in real terms.
Net exports of goods and services accounted for 2.85 per cent of nominal GDP at market prices, a decline from 7.77 per cent in the same quarter of the previous year.
The country’s exports declined by 37.61 per cent over the corresponding period; a decline only partially counteracted by the 24.31 per cent decline in imports.
Whereas the net export balance remained positive, the report said the gap between the value of exports and the value of imports narrowed significantly.
Compensation of Employees (COE), the report said, returned a growth of 0.11 per cent year on year in nominal terms, recovering from decline of 2.49 per cent in the first quarter of 2015. In real terms however, COE declined by of 8.11 percent.
National disposable income grew in nominal terms by 6.09 per cent (year on year) in the second quarter of 2015.
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