Services sector pushes GDP growth by 3.84% in GDP Q4 ,2024
By Patience Ikpeme
Expansion of activities in the Services sector by 5.37 percent buoyed aggregate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 57.38 percent, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) fourth quarter of 2024 GDP released on Tuesday showed.
In real term GDP grew by 3.84% (year-on-year) in the fourth quarter of 2024, higher than the 3.46% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023 and the third quarter of 2024 growth rate (approximately 3.46%)
Similarly, it was higher by 0.38% basic points relative to a similar growth rate of 3.46% recorded in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024. This reflected a higher economic improvement when compared to the preceding quarter (Q3 2024), with the service sector still playing the role of the major driver of the economy which recorded a growth of 5.37% and contributed 57.38% to the aggregate GDP.
According to the NBS statement, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the real GDP grew by 10.99% in Q4 2024, reflecting a higher production level than in Q3 2024.
The estimated economic activity in real terms for Q4 2024 stood at N22,610,393.45 million, which is higher than the rates recorded in Q3 2024 and Q4 2023 which stood at N20,115,766.93 million and N21,773,263.25 million.
“This also highlighted the improvement in the quarter under review compared to the previous quarters of Q3 2024 and Q4 2024.
The year 2024 ended with an overall annual GDP growth rate of 3.40%, from the 2.74% reported in 2023 . Thus, there was a decline in the performance of agriculture and Industry in 2024 relative to 2023, while the performance of the Services sector improved in 2024”, NBS disclosed.
In nominal terms (current price), aggregate GDP stood at N78,374,120.95 million in Q4 of 2024, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth rate of 18.91%. This is higher than the value of N65,908,258.59 million in Q4 2023 and N71,131,091.07 million in the preceding quarter.
According to NBS, major contributing economic activities in real terms in the quarter under review (i.e., Q4 2024) are crop production 23.42%, trade 15.11%, telecommunication 14.40%, real estate 5.88%, financial Institutions 5.76%, and crude petroleum 4.60%.
The agricultural sector grew by 1.76% and the Industry grew by 2.00% which shows a decline compared to the rate recorded in Q4 2023 at 2.10% and 3.86%. The Services sector recorded a 5.37% increase compared to the 3.98% recorded in Q4 2023.
Further analyses of the contributions of the broad economic sectors in the period showed agriculture contributed 25.59%, Industry 17.03%, and Services 57.38%. Agriculture and industry’s contribution was less than their contributions in Q4 of 2023 by 0.53% and 0.31 basis points. The Services sector had the highest contribution to the GDP in Q4 2024, surpassing their contribution in the corresponding quarter of 2023 by 0.83% basis points.
The annual contributions of the economic sector show that Agriculture contributed 24.64% in 2024 which is lower compared to its contributions which stood at 25.18% in 2023. Similarly, the industry sector’s annual contribution was 18.47% which is also lower than the figure recorded for 2023 (18.65%). However, the services sector contributions for 2024 were 56.89% which exceeded the 56.18% recorded for 2023.
Further disaggregation of the economic activities into oil and non-oil sectors. The oil GDP grew by 1.48% in Q4 2024, which shows a decline compared to 12.11% recorded in Q4 2023, and the previous quarter of Q3 2024 which stood at 5.17%. The oil sector accounted for 4.60% during the quarter under review.
The annual oil GDP for 2024 grew by 5.54%, which is 7.75% higher than the annual GDP recorded for 2023 (-2.22%). while the annual contribution of oil stood at 5.51% in 2024 higher than its contribution in Q4 2023 (5.40%).
The fourth quarter of 2024 recorded an average daily oil production of 1.54 million barrels per day (mbpd), lower than the daily average production of 1.56 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2023 by 0.03 mbpd. On the contrary, the fourth quarter of 2024 production volume was higher than the third quarter of 2024 (1.47 mbpd) by 0.06 mbpd.
The non-oil sector contributes 95.40% to the GDP in Q4 of 2024 in real terms. This shows an increase on a year-on-year basis when compared to the same period of Q4 2023 which recorded 95.30%. Similarly, the quarter under review exceeds the 94.43% recorded in Q3 2024.
The economic performance of the non-oil sector in Q4 2024 is attributed to the growth recorded in some economic activities, including Rail Transport & Pipelines, Metal Ores, Financial Institutions, Road Transport, Quarrying & Other Minerals, and Insurance,
On an annual basis, the non-oil grew by 3.27% in 2024, which is higher than the rate recorded in 2023 which stood at 3.04%, while in terms of aggregate contributions, the non-oil contributed 94.49% in 2024, which is lower than the 94.60% reported in 2023.
