Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.46% in real terms year-on-year in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
This growth rate represents an increase compared to the 2.54% recorded in Q3 2023 and is also higher than the 3.19% growth recorded in the second quarter of 2024.
The NBS attributed the growth mainly to the services sector, which saw an expansion of 5.19% and contributed 53.58% to the total GDP.
“The performance of the GDP in the third quarter of 2024 was driven mainly by the services sector, which recorded a growth of 5.19% and contributed 53.58% to the aggregate GDP,” the report noted.
In terms of sectoral performance, the agriculture sector grew by 1.14%, although this was a slight decline from the 1.30% growth recorded in Q3 2023. The industry sector experienced a growth of 2.18%, showing an improvement from the 0.46% recorded in the same period last year.
“In terms of share of the GDP, the services sector contributed more to the aggregate GDP in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the corresponding quarter of 2023,” the NBS added.
The Nigerian economy also saw significant growth in nominal terms. The aggregate GDP at basic price stood at N71,131,091.07 million in Q3 2024, a 17.26% increase from the N60,658,600.37 million recorded in Q3 2023.
“This performance is higher when compared to the third quarter of 2023 which recorded aggregate GDP of N60,658,600.37 million, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth of 17.26%,” the NBS report stated.
The non-oil sector also saw growth, expanding by 3.37% in real terms during Q3 2024. This growth was higher than the 2.75% recorded in the same quarter of 2023 and the 2.80% growth in the second quarter of 2024.
The NBS highlighted that the non-oil sector was driven primarily by growth in financial and insurance services, telecommunications, crop production, transportation and storage, trade, and construction.
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“The non-oil sector grew by 3.37% in real terms during the quarter under reference (Q3 2024),” the NBS stated, noting that the sector accounted for 94.43% of the GDP in Q3 2024, slightly lower than the 94.52% share recorded in the same period in 2023.
The oil sector also saw positive performance, with a real growth of 5.17% year-on-year in Q3 2024, a significant recovery from the -0.85% recorded in the same quarter of 2023. However, this growth marked a decline compared to the 10.15% growth recorded in Q2 2024.
“The real growth of the oil sector was 5.17% (year-on-year) in Q3 2024, indicating an increase of 6.02% points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2023 (-0.85%),” the report detailed. The sector contributed 5.57% to the total real GDP, up from 5.48% in Q3 2023 but down from 5.70% in Q2 2024.
In terms of oil production, Nigeria recorded an average daily production of 1.47 million barrels per day (mbpd) in Q3 2024. This was a slight increase from 1.45 mbpd in the same quarter of 2023 and 1.41 mbpd in Q2 2024.
“The nation in the third quarter of 2024 recorded an average daily oil production of 1.47 million barrels per day (mbpd), higher than the daily average production of 1.45 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2023 by 0.02 mbpd and higher than the second quarter of 2024 production volume of 1.41 mbpd by 0.07mbpd,” the NBS stated.
This overall growth in Nigeria’s GDP marks an optimistic development for the country’s economy in the third quarter of 2024, driven by key sectors such as services, industry, and oil production.
