Its official: Nigeria’s economy is in recession, the worst in the country’s history since 1987.
This stark reality was revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which released new information on Saturday.
The gross domestic product (GDP) figures released by the NBS show that the nation’s economy recorded a contraction of 3.62 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 compared to -2.28 per cent in third quarter 2019.
This is the second decline in the GDP for consecutive quarters since the most recent recession of 2016.
The NBS stated that the cumulative GDP for the first nine months of 2020 stood at -2.48 per cent.
It was in 1987 that Nigeria recorded such cumulative GDP, when it declined by 10.8 per cent.
Oil GDP diminished by -13.89 per cent in the third quarter of the year 2020 compared to 6.49 per cent same period in 2019.
Non-Oil GDP contracted by -2.51 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 compared to 1.85 per cent same period 2019.
This is the second recession in Nigeria’s democratic experience under President Muhamadu Buhari. It is also the fourth experience under his tenure as head of state.
