Article Summary
- The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector contributes 17.47% to Nigeria’s real GDP in Q1 2023, showing an increase from the previous year.
- The Telecoms sub-sector drives the growth in the ICT sector, contributing 14.13% to the real GDP.
- Overall GDP growth in the first quarter of 2023 is 2.31%, with the services sector being the main driver, growing at a rate of 4.35% and contributing 57.29% to the GDP.
Activities in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) contributed 17.47% to Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Q1 2023.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in the Q1 GDP statistics. This shows an increase in contribution when compared to the 16.2% recorded in the same period last year.
Quarter on quarter, the sector also recorded growth in real GDP contribution when compared to the 16.2% it added in Q4, 2022. According to NBS, the ICT sector is composed of the four activities of telecommunications and information services; publishing; motion picture, sound recording, and music production; and broadcasting.
Telcom leads
While the ICT sector recorded a growth rate of 10.32% in real terms year on year in the quarter under review, the growth was driven largely by activities in the telecommunications sub-sector, which contributed 14.13% to the GDP in real terms.
The closest sub-sector to telecoms in the ICT sector in terms of contribution was broadcasting, which added 1.98%.
Other key highlights for the ICT sector
The ICT sector contributed 13.23% to the total nominal GDP in the first quarter of 2023, higher than the rate of 10.55% recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and higher than the 10.42% it contributed in the preceding quarter.
- In nominal terms, the sector recorded 41.84% growth in the quarter under review, a 21.30% point increase from the rate of 20.54% recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and 20.43% points higher than the rate recorded in the preceding quarter.
- The ICT sector contributed 13.23% to the total nominal GDP in the first quarter of 2023, higher than the rate of 10.55% recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and higher than the 10.42% it contributed in the preceding quarter.
The general performance of the economy
According to NBS, Nigeria’s GDP grew by 2.31% year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of 2023, indicating 1.21% points lower than 3.52% recorded in the previous quarter and 0.8% lower compared to 3.11% recorded in the corresponding period of 2022.
The Statistics Bureau blamed the slowdown in GDP growth rate on the naira scarcity, which occurred in the first quarter of the year as the central bank refused to back down on its naira swap policy.
The performance of the GDP in the first quarter of 2023 was driven mainly by the services sector, which recorded a growth rate of 4.35% and contributed 57.29% to the aggregate GDP.
