NIGERIA has retained the fourth-largest economy in Africa, despite the rebasing of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
On Monday, July 21, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the long-awaited rebased GDP report.
The data showed that Nigeria’s nominal GDP increased to N372.82 trillion.
A conversion of N372.82 to dollars using the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) exchange rate of N1,536.50/$1 as of December 31, 2024, amounts to $242.64 billion.
Check by The ICIR showed that before the rebased exercise, Nigeria’s nominal GDP amounted to $187.75 billion, and the country ranked the fourth-largest economy in Africa in 2024.
With the nominal GDP at $242.64 billion, the country still retains its fourth position, coming behind South Africa with $400,26 billion nominal GDP, Egypt with $389,05 billion, and Algeria with $263,61 billion.
Although the value of Nigeria’s economy increased compared to earlier figures, it still falls behind South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria.
“The rebased estimates with the new base year of 2019 indicate that the nominal GDP for Nigeria is much larger than previously estimated. In 2019, the rebased nominal GDP at market prices stood at N205.09 trillion, N213.64 trillion in 2020, N243.30 trillion in 2021, N274.23 trillion in 2022, N314.02 trillion in 2023, and N372.82 trillion in 2024,” NBS said.
It stated that the revision represented a 41.7 per cent increase in nominal estimates as against a 59.7 per cent revision in the 2010 rebasing exercise.
The ICIR reported that in real terms, the Nigerian GDP grew by 3.13 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year from 2.27 per cent growth in the same period of 2024.
A GDP refers to the total value of all goods produced in a country in a year. In real terms, it is adjusted for inflation, while it is not in nominal terms.
The rebasing of the GDP to a 2019 base year from the previous 2010, according to the NBS, was to reflect the latest trends, including digital, informal, creative industries, and fintech into the general economic activities.
A further look at the latest data showed that real GDP growth in 2020 stood at -6.96 per cent, and increased to 0.95 per cent in 2021.
Higher growth rates were recorded in 2022 and 2023, at 4.32 per cent and 3.04 per cent, while 2024 recorded a real GDP growth rate of 3.38 per cent.
“Crop production at 17.58 per cent ranked highest among the top five economic activities using the 2019 base year. This was followed by trade (17.42 per cent), real estate (10.78 per cent), telecommunications (6.78 per cent), and crude petroleum and natural gas (5.85 per cent).
“Real estate ranked third, displacing crude oil and natural gas to the fifth position due to improved coverage of informal economic activities during the exercise,” NBS stated.