Nigeria economic growth at lowest level in fifteen years on oil pipelines vandalism
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated that Nigeria's real GDP growth contracted to -1.30% (year-on-year) in the fourth quarter of 2016.
The decline was less severe than the contraction in the previous quarter, it was however lower than the 2.11% growth rate recorded in 2015Q4. NBS said that the contraction reflects a difficult year for Nigeria, which included weaker inflation-induced consumption demand, an increase in oil pipeline vandalism, significantly reduced foreign reserves and a concomitantly weaker currency, and problems in the energy sector such as fuel shortages and lower electricity generation.
The oil sector declined by 12.38% in real terms, however according to NBS, this was an improvement relative to the previous quarter, when the sector declined by 22.01%. The decline was more severe than in the fourth quarter of 2015, when a contraction of -8.28% was recorded.
Non-oil sector growth figures show a declined by 0.33% in real terms in the 2016Q4. It is 0.36% points lower than growth of 0.03% recorded in 2016Q3, and 3.46% points lower than the 3.14% recoded in 2015Q4.
Overall, if oil outputs stay steady or increase, the country's economy is expected to grow in 2017, however the non-oil sector will still suffer from high-inflation and problems with electricity, amongst other.
