NIGERIA’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.13 per cent year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of this year from 2.27 per cent growth in the same period of 2024.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicated this in its latest GDP report released on Monday, July 21.

In nominal terms, GDP rose to N94.05 trillion from N79.51 trillion, representing a year-on-year increase of 18.30 per cent.

Sectors performance

The services sector continued to dominate economic output, growing by 4.33 per cent and contributing 57.50 per cent to real GDP.

Industry sector followed with a growth of 3.42 per cent from 2.35 per cent, while the agriculture sector, which still employs a large portion of the labour force, remained sluggish, growing marginally by 0.07 per cent from the negative 1.79 per cent contraction in the same period of last year.

The NBS had earlier revealed plans to rebase the GDP to a 2019 base year from the previous 2010 to reflect the latest trends in economic activities, The ICIR reported.

According to the NBS, the rebasing was necessary to ensure that the national accounts reflect a more accurate and current picture of the structure of the economy.

The long-awaited rebased GDP came after 11 years as the exercise was last conducted in 2014.

In a statement on Monday, the Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeniran Adeyemi, said, “As we are all aware, economies are dynamic. They change continually with innovation and new technologies, which alter the production and consumption patterns of individuals, households, firms, and government.

“Given these changes, it is only right that the parameters used to estimate the size, structure, and movements in the economy are updated periodically, ensuring an accurate and realistic picture of the economy.”

He noted that statistical offices worldwide undertake the process of rebasing GDP every five years as a global practice, depending on resource availability and the technical capacity of the statistical office.