Going by data on Gross Domestic Product, GDP, released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, today, Nigeria is finally out of recession.
According to the NBS data, the economy grew at 0.55 per cent in the second quarter of 2017, 2.04 per cent higher than the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2016 and higher by 1.46 per cent points from the rate recorded in the preceding quarter.
The NBS attributes the economic recovery to the performance of four main economic activities comprising oil, agriculture, manufacturing and trade.
It said oil GDP recovered significantly from -11.63 per cent in the second quarter of 2016 to 1.64 per cent in the same period in 2017, while Non-oil GDP grew marginally at 0.45 per cent.
Agriculture grew 3.01 per cent in the second quarter of 2017, from 3.39 per cent in the first quarter of 2017.
The NBS said manufacturing retained its positive growth for the second consecutive quarter in the second quarter of 2017, growing at 0.64 percent, while trade which has a dominant share of GDP remained negative at -1.62 per cent.
“Electricity and gas and financial institutions sectors also recorded strong growths OF 35.5 per cent. Financial institutions saw an 11.78 per cent jump in Q2 2017, compared to 0.60 per cent in Q1 2017 and -13.24 per cent in Q2 2016,” the NBS said.
It added that the industrial sector grew positively by 1.45 per cent in the second quarter of 2017, after nine consecutive quarters of negative growth since the fourth quarter of 2014.