Nigeria’s gross domestic product, GDP, shrunk by six percent in the second quarter of 2020, a new report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed.
The report released on Monday, showed that Oil GDP saw a nosedive from 5.06 percent to -6.63 percent in the first quarter and 5.15 percent in the second of 2019.
Non-oil GDP was also reported to have contracted by -6.05 percent from 1.55 percent in the first quarter of 2020 and 1.64 percent in the second quarter of 2019.
Since the its exit from recession in 2016, this is the first time in three years, Nigeria’s economy will record a negative growth.
“The decline was largely attributable to significantly lower levels of both domestic and international economic activity during the quarter, which resulted from nationwide shutdown efforts aimed at containing the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report read.
“The domestic efforts ranged from initial restrictions of human and vehicular movement implemented in only a few states to a nationwide curfew, bans on domestic and international travel, closure of schools and markets etc., affecting both local and international trade.
“The efforts, led by both the federal and state governments, evolved over the course of the quarter and persisted throughout.”
