Oil-rich Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, slipped into recession for the second time in four years, hit by both the coronavirus pandemic and falling oil prices, official figures revealed Saturday.
The third-quarter 2020 real GDP shrank for a second consecutive quarter by 3.62 percent, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Saturday.
“Cumulative GDP for the primary 9 months of 2020, therefore, stood at -2.48 per cent,” it added.
The agency blamed falling oil prices and therefore the effects of the coronavirus epidemic.
GDP associated with oil shrank by 13.89 per cent, compared to six .63 within the second quarter, said the third-quarter report.
Read also: Breaking: Nigeria Plummets Into Second Recession In 5 Years
Non-oil GDP shrank 2.51 per cent over an equivalent period, compared to six .05 per cent within the second quarter.
Already within the second quarter, Nigeria’s economy contracted by six per cent.
Nigeria’s economy was last in recession in 2016, its first in additional than 20 years . While it emerged in 2017, growth since then has been sluggish.
The International fund has forecast a 5.4-percent drop by Nigeria’s GDP this year. the govt has said the economy may shrink by the maximum amount as 8.9 percent.
Nigeria is Africa’s top oil producer, normally accounting for a mean output of two million barrels per day. But the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and low oil prices have cut production to around 1.4 million barrels.
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