A report released by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the GDP grew by 0.51%, an improvement on the 0.11% recorded in the last quarter of 2020.
Recall that the COVID-19 pandemic led to a crash in the GDP as the country recorded negative GDP figures of -6.10% in the second quarter of 2020 and -3.62% in the third quarter. This was as a result of the lockdown imposed on the economy and a shut down of movement for months.
The turn of the year has brought some life to the economy of the country as people gradually settle with the pandemic. The availability of vaccines has also helped in managing the pandemic better in the country.
Nigeria also recorded a decline in its GDP for the first time in 4 years in 2020 when the economy fell by -1.92%.
The nominal GDP for Q1 2021 was recorded to be N40.01trn while the Real GDP was N16.83trn. While the Non-oil sector contributed 90.75% of the GDP, the oil sector contributed 9.25%. The evidence is also in the increased production of oil. From 1.56m barrels per day recorded in Q4 2020, Nigeria produced 1.72m barrels per day in the quarter under review.
The Electricity and Gas Supply sectors recorded growth in comparison to the decline suffered in Q4 2020.
In the Services GDP, Education suffered a decline but the Health and Social Services GDP enjoyed growth in the period under review.