By OKEOGHENE AKUBUIKE

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), says Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased by 3.98 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021.

This is according to the NBS Statistics Quarterly Report released in Abuja on Saturday.

The report presents statistics on Nigeria’s GDP, foreign trade, capital importation, consumer prices index, and social statistics.

According to the report, Nigeria’s GDP grew by 3.98 per cent year-on-year in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2021.

“This showed sustained growth for the fifth quarter since the recession witnessed in 2020 when output contracted by -6.10 per cent and -3.62 per cent in Q2 and Q3 of 2020 under the COVID pandemic.

“The Q4 2021 growth rate was higher than the 0.11 per cent growth rate recorded in Q4 of 2020 by 3.87 per cent points and lower than 4.03 per cent recorded in Q3 of 2021 by 0.05 per cent points.

“Nevertheless, quarter on quarter, real GDP grew at 9.63 per cent in Q4 of 2021 compared to Q3 of 2021, reflecting a higher economic activity than the preceding quarter.

The report said real growth of the oil sector was 8.06 per cent year-on-year in Q4 of 2021, indicating an increase by 11.71 per cent points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020.

It said growth increased by 2.68 per cent points when compared to Q3 of 2021 which was 10.73 per cent.

The report revealed that the non-oil sector grew by 4.73 per cent in real terms during Q4 of 2021.

“This rate was higher by 3.05 per cent point compared to the rate recorded same quarter of 2020 and 0.71 per cent point lower than the third quarter of 2021.”

The report showed that services recorded the highest year-on-year growth rate of 5.58 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021, followed by agriculture with 3.58 per cent, while industry had -0.05 per cent.

On the contribution to total GDP, the NBS said agriculture contributed the most to GDP with 26.84 per cent, followed by Trade with 15.66 per cent and Information and Communication with 15.21 per cent.

”The activity that contributed the least was Administrative and Support Services with 0.02 per cent.

“This is followed by Water Supply, Sewerage, Waste Management and Remediation with 0.16 per cent and Arts, Entertainment and Recreation with 0.20 per cent.”

Data on foreign trade revealed that in Q4 of 2021, Nigeria’s Total Merchandise Trade stood at N11,707.20 billion, 74.71 per cent higher when compared to the value recorded in Q4, 2020.

It said export trade in Q4 of 2021 stood at N5.77 Trillion, indicating an increase of 12.27 per cent over the preceding quarter and the value in 2021 also grew by 80.52 per cent over the corresponding period of 2020.

On the other hand, total imports stood at N5.94 trillion in Q4, 2021, indicating an increase of 11.33 per cent over the preceding quarter and 69.41 per cent over the corresponding period of 2020.

“Export trade by region in Q4 of 2021 shows that Nigeria exported most products to Europe with goods valued at N2,408.39 billion or 41.76 per cent of total exports.

“Asia was N1,875.56 billion, or 32.52 per cent of total exports and Africa was N773.83 billion or 13.42 per cent of total exports, of which N250.52 billion worth of goods were exported to ECOWAS countries.

“Exports to America amounted to N702.74 billion or 12.19 per cent of total exports. ”

The report revealed that during Q4 of 2021, Nigeria imported goods mainly from Asia, valued at N2,743.76 billion or 46.19 per cent of total imports.

“This was followed by Europe at N2,422.41 billion or 40.78 per cent, America at N571.70 billion or 9.62 per cent, Africa at N161.47 billion or 2.72 per cent and Oceania at N41.24 billion or 0.69 per cent. ”

It said that imports from ECOWAS countries accounted for N35.76 billion, or 0.6 per cent of the value of total imports.

The report also revealed that Export trade to trading partners shows that India remained the top export destination for Nigeria in Q4 of 2021.

“The top five export destinations were India, Spain, France, the Netherlands and Indonesia.

“With goods valued at ₦874.86 billion or 15.17 per cent, ₦789.23 billion or 13.69 per cent, ₦485.35 billion or 8.42 per cent, ₦425.85 billion or 7.38 per cent, and ₦ 288.10 billion or 5.0 per cent of export trade.

“These five countries collectively accounted for 49.65 per cent of the value of total exports in Q4, 2021.”

The NBS said the sectoral share of imports for Q4 of 2021, showed that 50.51 per cent were manufactured goods, followed by other petroleum oil products with 28.60 per cent.

“Agricultural goods contributed 11.23 per cent of total imports, while raw material goods contributed 9.16 per cent. Solid minerals contributed the least with 0.50 per cent.”

Data on Exports by sector showed that in Q4 of 2021, crude oil accounted for 74.04 per cent of total exports.

“Manufactured goods, raw material goods and agricultural goods contributed 6.86 per cent, 4.31 per cent and 2.30 per cent, respectively to total exports.

“Energy goods contributed 0.36 per cent, while solid Mineral goods contributed the least with 0.24 per cent to total exports.”

On capital importation, the report said the total value of capital importation into Nigeria in the fourth quarter of 2021 stood at 2,187.63 million dollars from 1,731.37 million dollars in the preceding quarter showing an increase of 26.35 per cent.

“The largest amount of capital importation by type was received through other investment, which accounted for 54.24 per cent (1,186.53 million dollars).

“This was followed by Portfolio Investment with 29.39 per cent (642.87 million dollars) and Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) amounted to 16.38 per cent (358.23 million dollars) of total capital imported in Q4 2021.”

The report said capital importation by sector, revealed that tanning had the highest inflow of 645.59 million dollars amounting to 29.51 per cent of total capital imported.

This was followed by capital imported into the production sector, valued at 360.06 million dollars (16.46 per cent) and the electrical sector with 325.55 million dollars (14.88 per cent).

Capital Importation by country of origin reveals that Mauritius ranked top as source of capital imported into Nigeria in the fourth quarter of 2021 with a value of 611.45 million dollars, accounting for 27.95 per cent.

This was followed by the United States of America and the Republic of South Africa valued at 321.03 million dollars (14.67 per cent) and 285.83 million dollars (13.07 per cent).

The NBS said data on Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures the average change over time in prices of goods and services consumed by people for day-to-day living measures the inflation rate.

In March 2022, inflation increased to 15.92 per cent on year-on-year basis. This is 2.25 percentage points lower compared to the rate recorded in March 2021 (15.70 per cent).

“The composite food index rose by 17.20 per cent year-on-year in March 2022, indicating a healthier rate than in March 2021 which was a 22.95 per cent rise.”

The NBS said the current food index was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, partly due to the war in Ukraine.

The report said the urban inflation rate increased to 16.44 per cent year-on-year in March 2022 from 18.76 per cent recorded in March 2021.

It added that the rural inflation rate increased to 15.42 per cent in March 2022 from 17.60 per cent in March 2021.

Data on social statistics according to the report revealed that in the area of health, cholera was the most reported disease in 2018 both for males and females, followed by measles, while Lassa fever was the least.

However, in 2019 and 2020, reported cases of measles were highest for both males and females, with 46,317 and 17,000 cases respectively.

The report said this was followed by yellow fever, while Lassa fever and cerebrospinal meningitis were the least.

“In terms of reported deaths, cholera claimed the majority of lives in 2018 for both sexes, followed by cerebrospinal meningitis while yellow fever had the least.

“Lassa Fever recorded the highest cases of deaths in 2019 to 2020, with 174 and 244 reported deaths respectively, while cerebrospinal meningitis recorded the lowest with 25 and 9 deaths, respectively.”

In Education, the report revealed that female enrolment in adult literacy education was more than male in 2018, while in 2019 and 2020 male enrolment was more than female. (NAN)

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