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Nigerian Economy Grew 3.5% In Second Quarter, Beating Estimates

Economic growth in Nigeria accelerated faster than expected in the second quarter, driven by growth in the non-oil sector.

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Informal traders and pedestrians move between heavy traffic in a market area of Lagos, Nigeria, on April 22, 2022. Choked supply chains, partly due to the Ukraine war, and an almost 100% increase in gasoline prices this year, are placing upward price pressures on Africa’s largest economy.</p></div>
Informal traders and pedestrians move between heavy traffic in a market area of Lagos, Nigeria, on April 22, 2022. Choked supply chains, partly due to the Ukraine war, and an almost 100% increase in gasoline prices this year, are placing upward price pressures on Africa’s largest economy.

Economic growth in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude producer, accelerated faster than expected in the second quarter, driven by growth in the non-oil sector.

Nigeria’s economy grew 3.5% year-on-year in the three months through June, compared with 3.1% in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report on Friday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 10 economists was 2.9%.

Nigerian Economy Grew 3.5% In Second Quarter, Beating Estimates

Growth in the three-month period marked the seventh consecutive quarterly expansion and was driven by a 4.8% improvement in the non-oil sector, which makes up the majority of the economy, compared with a 6.1% increase from a year earlier.

The oil sector shrunk by 12%. Oil production declined to 1.43 million barrels per day in the second quarter, compared with 1.49 million barrels in the previous three-month period, Adeniran said. Nigeria has been unable to meet its OPEC+ quota this year, partly because of crude theft.

Statistician-General Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran said rising inflation caused growth in Africa’s largest economy to slow from 5.01% in the same period last year.

“The recent rising prices have adversely impacted on the second quarter 2022 performance,” he said in a statement accompanying the data release.

The Central Bank of Nigeria has hiked its benchmark rate by 250 basis points to 14% since May in an effort to fight inflation, which hit a near 17-year high of 19.6% in July. The monetary policy committee next meets on Sept. 27.

(Updates with GDP Chart)

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