Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Reality of the nation's negative economic curve dawned yesterday as the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported a 0.36 per cent drop in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to 2.74 per cent in 2023 from 3.10 per cent in 2022. Disclosing this in its GDP fourth quarter 2023 report, NBS said in terms of share of the GDP, Industry, and the Services sectors contributed more to the aggregate GDP in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. The Services sector recorded 3.98 per cent growth, contributing 56.55 per cent to the aggregate GDP while the Industry sector contributed 3.86 per cent. Year on year, according to NBS, the GDP grew by 3.46 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2023, a figure lower than the 3.52 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022 and higher than the third quarter of 2023 growth of 2.54 per cent. The performance of the GDP in the fourth quarter of 2023 was driven mainly by the Services sector, which recorded a growth of 3.98 per cent and contributed 56.55 per cent to the aggregate GDP.The Agriculture sector grew by 2.10 per cent, from the growth of 2.05 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022. The growth of the industry sector was 3.86 per cent, an improvement from -0.94 per cent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.