The National Bureau of Statistics on Monday released the Gross Domestic Product growth rate for the second quarter of this year, with the economy recording a decline in performance from 1.95 per cent in the first quarter to 1.5 per cent.
The bureau said the second quarter growth rate was constrained by contractions in oil GDP.
It said oil GDP contracted by -3.95 per cent in the second quarter, as against 14.77 per cent in the first quarter of this year and 3.53 per cent in the second quarter of 2017.
The report said for the first time since Nigeria’s exit from recession, growth was driven by the non-oil sector, which grew by 2.05 per cent, representing the strongest growth in non-oil GDP since the fourth quarter of 2015.
The 2.05 per cent growth rate is higher than the 0.76 per cent growth which the sector recorded in the first quarter of this year.
It added that non-oil GDP growth which was 0.72 per cent in the first quarter of 2017, 0.45 per cent, -0.76 per cent, 1.45 per cent in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2017 grew by 2.05 per cent in the second quarter of this year.
The report added, “Non-oil growth was driven by transportation which grew by 21.76 per cent supported by growth in construction which grew by 7.66 per cent and electricity which grew by 7.59 per cent.
“Other non-oil sectors that drove growth in Q2 2018 include telecommunication which grew by 11.51 per cent, water supply and sewage which grew by 11.98 per cent and broadcasting which grew by 21.92 per cent.
“The non-oil sector performance was however constrained by agriculture that grew by 1.3 per cent compared to three per cent in Q1 2018 and 3.01 per cent in Q2 2017.”