Oil-rich Nigeria, Africa’s largest economic system, slipped into recession for the second time in 4 years, hit by each the coronavirus pandemic and falling oil costs, official figures revealed Saturday.
The third-quarter 2020 actual GDP shrank for a second consecutive quarter by 3.62 p.c, stated the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated Saturday.
“Cumulative GDP for the primary 9 months of 2020, subsequently, stood at -2.48 per cent,” it added.
The company blamed falling oil costs and the results of the coronavirus epidemic.
GDP associated to grease shrank by 13.89 per cent, in comparison with 6.63 within the second quarter, stated the third-quarter report.
Non-oil GDP shrank 2.51 per cent over the identical interval, in comparison with 6.05 per cent within the second quarter.
Already within the second quarter, Nigeria’s economic system contracted by six per cent.
Nigeria’s economic system was final in recession in 2016, its first in additional than 20 years. Whereas it emerged in 2017, development since then has been sluggish.
The Worldwide Financial Fund has forecast a 5.4-percent drop in Nigeria’s GDP this 12 months. The federal government has stated the economic system might shrink by as a lot as 8.9 p.c.
Nigeria is Africa’s high oil producer, usually accounting for a mean output of two million barrels per day. However the results of the Covid-19 pandemic and low oil costs have minimize manufacturing to round 1.4 million barrels.