By Jemimah Wellington, JKNewsMedia Correspondent
MAJOR STATISTICAL recalibration has reshaped the economic outlook following the release of the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), with 2019 adopted as the new base year.
The revised data puts the nominal GDP for that year at ₦205.09 trillion—marking a 41.1 percent increase over the previous estimate.
The rebasing exercise is also said to reflect a broader and more accurate scope of economic activity between 2019 and 2023.
It also captures improved data coverage in critical sectors, particularly real estate and telecommunications, while redefining the size and structure of Nigeria’s economy.
For context, the NBS said the last rebasing in 2014 had seen a 59.5 percent jump, but the latest revision offers a more moderate yet significant correction of 41.1 percent.
Updated GDP data also indicate a consistent upward trend in nominal terms, with output rising to ₦213.64 trillion in 2020, ₦243.30 trillion in 2021, ₦274.23 trillion in 2022, ₦314.02 trillion in 2023, and ₦372.82 trillion in 2024—equivalent to $243 billion at current prices.
For the first quarter of 2025, real GDP growth stood at 3.13 percent, surpassing the 2.27 percent posted in the same quarter of 2024.
On the other hand, the Statistician General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran, highlighted a shift in the economy’s sectoral landscape.
He said crop production retained dominance with a 17.58 percent contribution to GDP, narrowly ahead of trade at 17.42 percent.
Real estate, boosted by expanded informal sector coverage, rose to 10.78 percent, overtaking crude petroleum and natural gas, which fell to fifth place with a 5.85 percent share.
Telecommunications accounted for 6.78 percent of the GDP, in his words.
Adeniran also noted that the Services sector emerged as the economy’s largest contributor under the new classification, accounting for 53.09 percent of the 2019 GDP—slightly above the 52.60 percent previously recorded.
Agriculture followed with 25.83 percent, and Industries contributed 21.08 percent.
The informal sector’s role was also more visible in the revised figures, contributing ₦86.85 trillion, or 42.5 percent of GDP in 2019.
This is more than double the ₦39 trillion previously estimated in 2015, he reveals.
Continuing, real GDP growth showed varied performance across the rebased years.
The economy contracted by 6.96 percent in 2020, recovered slightly with 0.95 percent in 2021, and posted stronger growth of 4.32 percent and 3.04 percent in 2022 and 2023 respectively; and the most recent estimate for 2024 indicates a real growth rate of 3.38 percent, Adeniran said.
