Nigeria enters worst economic recession in 33 years – NBS

Nigeria has entered another recession, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has declared – the 2nd under President Muhammad Buhari’s regime and the worst economic recession in 33 years.

According to the NBS Gross Domestic Product report for the third quarter of 2020, Nigeria’s economy contracted by 3.62 per cent to record its lowest growth rate in three decades.

The report stated that the performance of the economy in the third quarter of 2020 reflected “residual effects of the restrictions to movement and economic activity implemented across the country in early Q2 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As these restrictions were lifted, businesses re-opened and international travel and trading activities resumed, some economic activities have returned to positive growth.”

In all, 18 economic activities recorded positive growth compared to 13 activities in the second quarter.

The last time Nigeria had this magnitude of economic decline was under the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, when the economy recorded consecutive decline of 0.51 per cent and 0.82 per cent in first and second quarters of 1987.

It is the nation’s second recession since 2016, triggered  by a significant decline in sales of Nigeria’s main revenue earner, crude oil, due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Oil production fell to 1.67 million barrels a day from 1.81 million barrels in the previous quarter, according to Bloomberg figures, the lowest since the third quarter in 2016 when the economy last experienced a recession.

The World Bank forecast the Nigerian economy will contract by 3.2 per cent in 2020, assuming the spread of COVID-19 is contained by the third quarter. The International Monetary Fund forecast a contraction of 4.3 per cent.

The last time Nigeria had this magnitude of economic decline was under the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida, when the economy recorded consecutive decline of 0.51 per cent and 0.82 per cent in first and second quarters of 1987.