Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Q3 2023 was 15.97% higher than it would have been without Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
This information was included in the Q3 GDP numbers provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) the next day. Compared to the 15.35% recorded during the same time last year, this shows a rise in funding.
However, the sector’s contribution was lower in Q3 than in the previous quarter (Q2 2022).
In Q2, ICT made up 19.54 per cent of the real GDP, according to statistics from the NBS. In Q3, that number went down.
NBS says that the ICT sector includes four activities: publishing, telecommunications and information services, motion picture, sound recording, music production, and broadcasting.
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Telcom leads
In the third quarter of 2023, the ICT sector grew by 6.69% year-over-year in actual figures. In accurate terms, this was primarily due to operations in the telecommunications sub-sector, which added 13.50 per cent to the GDP.
The telecom business, led by mobile network operators like MTN, Globacom, Airtel, 9mobile, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs), affects almost every part of the economy.
In addition, Broadcasting, which added 1.39 per cent, was the ICT sub sector most similar to telecoms.
ICT nominal contribution
The NBS says the ICT industry added 11.57% to the total nominal GDP in the third quarter of 2023. This is more than the 9.58% it added in the same quarter of 2022 but less than the 14.83% it added in the previous quarter.
In real terms, the sector grew at 6.69% year over year in the third quarter of 2023.
The NBS also said that the rate was 3.84% points lower than it was during the same period in 2022.
“The sector grew by -10.30% in real terms from one quarter to the next.” In the third quarter of 2023, the sector comprised 15.97% of total real GDP. This was better than the same quarter the previous year when it made up 15.35%, but lower than the previous quarter when it made up 19.54%, NBS said.
The economy’s overall health
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report indicated that the economy of Nigeria expanded by 2.54%, which is a marginal improvement from the 2.51% expansion registered in the second quarter of 2023.
The present growth rate is higher than the 2.25% that was achieved in the third quarter of 2022 when compared to the quarter that corresponds to the current quarter in 2022.
The performance of the Nigerian economy, as measured by GDP during the third quarter of 2023, was driven mainly by the services sector, which contributed 52.70% of the total GDP and expanded by 3.99% during that period.
In addition, the agricultural sector experienced an increase of 1.30 per cent compared to the 1.34 per cent growth in the same quarter of 2022.
The manufacturing industry saw an increase of 0.46%, which is an improvement from the -8.00% that was registered in the same quarter of the previous year.