The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has listed the real estate sector as the third-largest sub-sector in Nigeria’s economy, up from 5th position, following the recent GDP rebasing exercise
According to data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the real estate sector contributed 5.20 per cent to the GDP in Q1 of 2024.
The rebasing exercise has rearranged the hierarchy of Nigeria’s leading industries. While grain crop production and Trade remain the top and second-largest industries, real estate has surpassed crude petroleum and Natural gas to claim third place.
Telecommunications remains in the fourth spot, followed by Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas, Construction, and Food, beverages, and tobacco in the fifth, sixth, and seventh positions, respectively.
Key Highlights from the Rebasing Exercise
Current and Rebasing Rankings:
The updated rankings from the GDP rebasing reveal a shift in the Nigerian economy’s structure, signalling a more diversified and dynamic economic landscape.
Expanded Data Collection
The GDP rebasing exercise incorporates data from new and previously underreported economic activities. Key areas now covered include:
- Digital Economic Activities
- Modular Refineries
- Pension Funds Administrators
- Domestic Households as Employers of Labour
- National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)
- Quarrying and Other Mining Activities
- Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF)
- Illegal and Hidden Activities
The rise of real estate as the third-largest subsector demonstrates the growing importance of infrastructure, urbanization, and property development.
This shift also shows the economy’s reduced dependence on crude petroleum and natural gas, traditionally a dominant sector.
With crude oil now ranked fifth, the rebased GDP offers a clearer view of Nigeria’s structural changes and the increasing prominence of non-oil sectors.
What you should know
- For the new rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP data, 2019 was selected as the new base year.
- According to the NBS, the choice of 2019 was driven by the year’s status as a period of “relative economic stability” compared to other recent years, which were marked by significant economic shocks.
- The agency also said “Some major surveys that served as inputs into the rebasing covered this period. 2020, 2021 and 2022 were avoided as base years due to economic instabilities – this follows IMF guidelines.”
- The agency noted further that 2019 was chosen because “other sector-specific administrative data for this period were collected.”
- NBS noted that the newly rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures will be unveiled by the end of January.
- In October 2024, the NBS revealed its plans to rebase both the GDP and CPI to reflect current economic realities and account for structural changes in the economy.
