By Obas Esiedesa
Nigeria’s economy shrank by 6.10 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2020, data from the National Bureau of Statistics has shown.
The months of April, June and July saw the country’s industry hubs of Lagos and Ogun states under strict lockdown due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Federal Capital Territory was also on strict lockdown with banks, government offices, markets and hotels shut. Other states across the country also imposed limited restrictions due to the virus.
The NBS in the Q2 2020 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report published on Monday morning said Real GDP contracted by -6.10 percent compared to 1.87 percent in Q1 2020 and 2.12 percent in Q2 2019.
The Oil Sector contracted by -6.63 percent while Non-Oil Sector shrank by -6.05 percent.
The size of the economy, Real GDP was report at N15.89 trillion while nominal GDP was N34.02 trillion for the period.
The Oil Sector contribution to the GDP remained low at 8.93 percent with Non-Oil contribution recorded at 91.07 percent.
The Services Sector led in contribution to the Real GDP with 53.49 percent, Agriculture recorded 24.65 percent while Industries contributed 21.87 percent.
Unsurprisingly however, while other sectors took a hit during Q2, the Information and Communication Industry under the Services Sector grew by 15.09 percent. Telecommunication Real GDP grew by massive 18.1 percent.
With movements restricted and inter-state borders closed during the period, the transport sector took a major hit.
Transport services under the Transportation and Storage real GDP shrank by -11.15 percent while Air Transport fell by massive -57.38 percent under the Transportation and Storage real GDP. Airports were shut for commercial flights during the period.
Rail Transport and Pipelines under Transportation and Storage real GDP contracted by -63.32 percent while Water transport fell by -28.33 percent.
Manufacturing activities fell by -12.05 percent while Construction Sector contracted by 31.77 percent.
Crude Petroleum and Natural Gas under Mining and Quarrying sector fell by -6.63 percent.
