ICT contributed 16% to Nigeria’s GDP in Q3 2023

 

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) contributed about 16 per cent to Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the third quarter of 2023. This represents an increase of about 0,6 percent when compared to the 15.35 per cent recorded in the same period last year.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in the Q3 GDP statistics released recently.

However, when compared with the figure recorded in the preceding quarter (Q2 2023) the sector contributed less in Q3.

The NBS data showed that ICT contributed 19.54% to the real GDP in Q2, which made the Q3 figure a decline.

According to NBS, the ICT sector comprises the four activities of Telecommunications and Information Services; Publishing; Motion Picture, Sound Recording, and Music Production; and Broadcasting.

The sector in the third quarter of 2023 recorded a growth rate of 6.69% in real terms, year-on-year. This was driven largely by activities in the telecommunications sub-sector, which contributed 13.50% to the GDP in the real term.

The telecom industry, which is dominated by mobile network operators including MTN, Globacom, Airtel, 9mobile, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is also driving a lot of activities in every other sector of the economy.

The closest sub-sector to telecoms in the ICT sector in terms of contribution was broadcasting, which added 1.39 per cent.

According to the NBS data, the ICT sector contributed 11.57 per cent to the total Nominal GDP in the 2023 third quarter, higher than the rate of 9.58 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2022 and lower than the 14.83 per cent it contributed in the preceding quarter.

The sector in the third quarter of 2023 recorded a growth rate of 6.69 per cent in real terms, year-on-year.

NBS added that from the rate recorded in the corresponding period of 2022, there was a decrease of 3.84 per cent points.

“On a quarter-on-quarter, the sector exhibited a growth of -10.30 per cent in real terms. Of total real GDP, the sector contributed 15.97 per cent in the 2023 third quarter, higher than in the same quarter of the previous year in which it represented 15.35 per cent and lower than the preceding quarter in which it represented 19.54 per cent, NBS added.
The general performance of the economy
The NBS report showed that Nigeria’s economy grew by 2.54 per cent slightly up from the 2.51 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2023.

When compared with the corresponding quarter of 2022, the current growth rate surpasses the 2.25 per cent recorded in the third quarter of 2022.

Nigeria’s GDP performance in the third quarter of 2023 was mainly propelled by the services sector which grew by 3.99 per cent and contributed 52.70 per cent to the total GDP.

Also, the agricultural sector witnessed a growth of 1.30 per cent compared to the 1.34 recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022.

The industry sector displayed a growth of 0.46 per cent, marking an improvement from the -8.00 per cent recorded in the same quarter of the previous year.