The economy grew by 3.46 per cent in Q32024, with output reaching ₦20.115 trillion, up from 3.19 per cent (₦18.285 trillion) in Q2 2024, driven mainly by the non-oil sector.
This was revealed in the Central Bank of Nigeria’s newly released Economic Report for the third quarter of 2024.
The report said inflation moderated during the quarter, reflecting the fall in the food component of the Consumer Price Index basket, and driven by the restrictive monetary policy stance.
Domestic crude oil production increased, following enhanced security measures around oil pipeline infrastructure in the Niger Delta region.
Despite persisting headwinds, CBN said the economy continued to expand in the third quarter of 2024.
The continued drive of the government to improve crude oil production to a target of 2 million barrels per day by year-end of 2024, helped the oil sector to maintain positive growth for the fourth consecutive quarter.
Thus, the oil sector grew by 5.17 per cent (year-on-year) in Q32024, compared with a growth of 10.15 per cent in the preceding quarter, and contributed 0.28 percentage points to the overall increase in the period under review.
The performance was slower than the preceding quarter, owing to a drop in prices of Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude in the international market, to US$82.07/b from US$86.92/b in Q22024.
However, with the increase in crude oil production from 1.27mbpd in Q22024 to 1.33mbpd in Q32024, the sector maintained a positive contribution to overall growth.
The non-oil sector growth accelerated to 3.37 per cent in Q32024 compared with a growth rate of 2.80 per cent in the preceding quarter, contributing 3.18 percentage points to total growth. The expansion of the non-oil sector was driven by the performance of the financial & insurance, information & communication, crop production, trade, transportation & storage, and real estate sub-sectors.
The fishing sub-sector, however, contracted by 1.91 per cent, against a growth of 0.38 per cent in the preceding quarter.
The industry sector maintained a positive trajectory, growing by 2.18 per cent in Q32024, compared with 3.53 and 0.46 per cent in Q22024 and Q32023, respectively.
This slower growth was reflected in the Industrial Production Index (IPI), which grew by 2.04 per cent (year-on-year) in Q32024, compared with 4.13 per cent in the preceding quarter.
Sustained efforts by the government, however, to improve crude oil production (to 1.33mbpd in Q32024 from 1.27 mbpd in Q22024), contributed to the sector’s growth outcome in the period under review.
The increased production was on account of improved security in the oil-producing region.
Modest performances were recorded in the mining & quarrying sub-sectors with a growth of 3.27 per cent compared with 7.79 per cent and a contraction of 1.96 per cent in the preceding and corresponding quarters of 2023, respectively.
The industry sector, less oil, grew by 0.87 per cent compared with 0.85 and 1.04 per cent in the preceding and corresponding quarters of 2023, respectively.
Growth reflected the sustained gains in water supply (9.78%), sewerage waste management (3.23%); milder expansions in electricity, construction (2.91%), and manufacturing (0.92%) activities, with growth rates, respectively.
However, marked contraction was observed in the mining and quarrying subsector which shrunk by 61.36 per cent compared with 45.89 and 29.01 per cent contractions in the preceding and corresponding quarters of 2023 respectively.
