Nigerian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the second quarter of 2020 released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the latest GDP contraction in real terms in the second quarter of 2020, ended the 3-year trend of low but positive real growth rates recorded since the 2016/2017 recession.
The NBS largely attributed the economic contraction to “significantly lower levels of both domestic and international economic activity during the quarter, which resulted from nationwide shutdown efforts aimed at containing the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The apex statistical body in Nigeria said the domestic efforts ranged from initial restrictions of human and vehicular movement implemented in only a few states to a nationwide curfew, bans on domestic and international travel, closure of schools and markets etc., affecting both local and international trade.
“The efforts, led by both the Federal and State governments, evolved over the course of the quarter and persisted throughout,” the NBS said in the report.
Daily Trust observed that when compared with the second quarter, 2019, which recorded a growth of 2.12 percent, the second quarter, 2020 growth rate indicates a drop of –8.22 percent points, and a fall of –7.97 percent points when compared to the first quarter of 2020 (1.87 percent).
Consequently, for the first half of 2020, real GDP declined by –2.18 percent year on year, compared with 2.11 percent recorded in the first half of 2019.
Meanwhile, quarter on quarter, real GDP decreased by –5.04 percent.
Furthermore, only 13 activities recorded positive real growth compared to 30 in the preceding quarter.
Analysis of the report showed that non-oil GDP contracted by -6.05 percent from 1.55 percent in the first quarter of 2020 and 1.64 percent in the second quarter of 2019.
