From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in real terms (constant prices) grew by 3.84 per cent in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024 on a year-on-year basis, which is 0.38 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in Q4 2023 (3.46 per cent).
Similarly, it was higher by 0.38 percentage points relative to a similar growth rate of 3.46 per cent recorded in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024. This reflected higher economic improvement when compared to the preceding quarter (Q3 2024), with the services sector still playing the role of the major driver of the economy, which recorded a growth of 5.37 per cent and contributed 57.38 per cent to the aggregate GDP.
Similarly, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the real GDP grew by 10.99 per cent in Q4 2024, reflecting a higher production level than in Q3 2024.
The bureau also said that the estimated economic activity in real terms for Q4 2024 stood at ₦22,610,393.45 million, which is higher than the rates recorded in Q3 2024 and Q4 2023, which stood at ₦20,115,766.93 million and ₦21,773,263.25 million respectively. This also highlighted the improvement in the quarter under review compared to the previous quarters of Q3 2024 and Q4 2023.
“The year 2024 ended with an overall annual GDP growth rate of 3.40 per cent, up from the 2.74 per cent reported in 2023. Thus, there was a decline in the performance of agriculture and industry in 2024 relative to 2023, while the performance of the services sector improved in 2024.
“In nominal terms (current prices), aggregate GDP stood at ₦78,374,120.95 million in Q4 of 2024, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 18.91 per cent. This is higher than the value of ₦65,908,258.59 million in Q4 2023 and ₦71,131,091.07 million in the preceding quarter.
“The major contributing economic activities in real terms in the quarter under review (i.e., Q4 2024) are crop production 23.42 per cent, trade 15.11 per cent, telecommunication 14.40 per cent, real estate 5.88 per cent, financial institutions 5.76 per cent, and crude petroleum 4.60 per cent.
“On a broad classification of the economic activities into agriculture, industry, and services sectors based on growth, the agricultural sector grew by 1.76 per cent and the industry sector grew by 2.00 per cent, which shows a decline compared to the rates recorded in Q4 2023 at 2.10 per cent and 3.86 per cent. The services sector recorded a 5.37 per cent increase compared to the 3.98 per cent recorded in Q4 2023.
“Analyses of the contributions of the broad economic sectors in the period under review show agriculture contributed 25.59 per cent, industry 17.03 per cent, and services 57.38 per cent. Agriculture and industry’s contribution was less than their contributions in Q4 of 2023 by 0.53 and 0.31 percentage points respectively. The services sector had the highest contribution to the GDP in Q4 2024, surpassing its contribution in the corresponding quarter of 2023 by 0.83 percentage points,” NBS said.
Meanwhile, the annual contributions of the economic sectors show that agriculture contributed 24.64 per cent in 2024, which is lower compared to its contribution, which stood at 25.18 per cent in 2023. Similarly, the industry sector’s annual contribution was 18.47 per cent, which is also lower than the figure recorded for 2023 (18.65 per cent). However, the services sector’s contribution for 2024 was 56.89 per cent, which exceeded the 56.18 per cent recorded for 2023.
In a statement, the oil GDP grew by 1.48 per cent in Q4 2024, which shows a decline compared to 12.11 per cent recorded in Q4 2023, and the previous quarter of Q3 2024, which stood at 5.17 per cent. The oil sector accounted for 4.60 per cent during the quarter under review.
“The annual oil GDP for 2024 grew by 5.54 per cent, which is 7.75 percentage points higher than the annual GDP recorded for 2023 (-2.22 per cent), while the annual contribution of oil stood at 5.51 per cent in 2024, higher than its contribution in Q4 2023 (5.40 per cent).
“The fourth quarter of 2024 recorded an average daily oil production of 1.54 million barrels per day (mbpd), lower than the daily average production of 1.56 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2023 by 0.03 mbpd. On the contrary, the fourth quarter of 2024 production volume was higher than the third quarter of 2024 (1.47 mbpd) by 0.06 mbpd.
“The non-oil sector contributed 95.40 per cent to the GDP in Q4 of 2024 in real terms. This shows an increase on a year-on-year basis when compared to the same period of Q4 2023, which recorded 95.30 per cent. Similarly, the quarter under review exceeds the 94.43 per cent recorded in Q3 2024.
“The economic performance of the non-oil sector in Q4 2024 is attributed to the growth recorded in some economic activities, including rail transport and pipelines, metal ores, financial institutions, road transport, quarrying and other minerals, and insurance.
“On an annual basis, the non-oil sector grew by 3.27 per cent in 2024, which is higher than the rate recorded in 2023, which stood at 3.04 per cent, while in terms of aggregate contributions, the non-oil sector contributed 94.49 per cent in 2024, which is lower than the 94.60 per cent reported in 2023.
“Statistician-General, National Bureau of Statistics, 24th February 2025,” the bureau noted.