The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS, said Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.38 per cent in real terms year-on-year as the economy recorded positive growth in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The bureau said the economy recorded positive growth in the non-oil sector in the quarter as the sector grew by 2.70 per cent in real terms.

The NBS disclosed this in its “GDP Report for the Fourth and Full Year 2018’’ released on Tuesday in Abuja.

It said the 2.38 per cent growth recorded in the quarter represented an increase of 0.27 per cent points when compared to the fourth quarter of 2017, which recorded a growth rate of 2.11 per cent.

The report also said that the figure indicated a rise of 0.55 per cent points when compared to the growth rate recorded in the third quarter of 2018.

On a quarter on quarter basis, it said the real GDP growth was 5.31 per cent.

In addition, it said the fourth quarter growth performance implied that real GDP grew at an annual rate of 1.93 per cent in 2018, compared to 0.82 per cent recorded in 2017, representing an increase of 1.09 per cent points.

Meanwhile, in the fourth quarter of 2018, the average daily oil production stood at 1.91 million barrels per day (mbpd).

This, it said was lower than the 1.95 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2017, and 1.94 mbpd in third quarter of 2018.

The oil sector recorded a real GDP growth rate of –1.62 per cent (year-on-year) in fourth quarter, 2018, indicating a decline of –12.81 per cent points relative to the growth rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2017.

However, when compared to third quarter, 2018, growth increased by 1.29 per cent points. On an annual basis, real GDP growth for the oil sector stood at 1.14 per cent as against 4.69 per cent recorded in 2017.

The report further said that the oil sector contributed 7.06 per cent to real GDP in the quarter under review, down from figures recorded in the corresponding period of 2017 and the preceding quarter, where it contributed 7.35 per cent and 9.38 per cent respectively.

For 2018, the contribution of the oil sector to aggregate real GDP was 8.60 per cent, slightly lower when compared to 8.67 per cent in 2017.

On the other hand, the non-oil sector grew by 2.70 per cent in real terms during the quarter under review.

The figure was 1.25 per cent points higher than the growth rate recorded in fourth quarter, 2017, and 0.38 per cent points higher than the growth rate recorded in third quarter, 2018.

On an annual basis, the non-oil sector recorded a growth rate of 2.00 per cent in 2018, performing considerably better than 0.47 per cent seen in 2017.

The key performing activities during the quarter were Information and communication, Transportation and Storage, Arts and Entertainment and Agriculture as well as Manufacturing.

The report further said that the Non-Oil sector contributed 92.94 per cent to real GDP in the fourth quarter of 2018, slightly higher than the 92.65 per cent seen in the fourth, 2017.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Quarterly National Accounts (QNA) are integrated system of macroeconomic accounts designed to describe the entire system of production in a nation on a quarterly basis.

They provide a picture of the current economic status of the economy that is more timely and frequent than that provided by Annual National Accounts (ANA).

QNA adopts the same concepts, definitions and structure as ANA while in principle QNA covers the entire sequence of accounts and balance sheets as reflected in the 2008 System of National Accounts (2008 SNA).

Data for this analysis were obtained from the Quarterly Establishment Survey (QES) conducted by NBS.

This series covers major aggregates of quarterly GDP by kind of economic activities at current and constant (2010) prices