The Agricultural sector made up of four sub-sectors – Crop Production, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing grew by 2.28% year-on-year according to the Q1 2021 GDP report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
This is a decrease of -1.14% points from the preceding quarter (Q4 2020) which recorded a growth rate of 3.42%. Quarter-on-quarter, the agriculture sector grew at –28.61% according to the report.
However, the Q1 2021 growth is an increase of 0.07% points from the corresponding period of 2020.
In terms of contribution, the sector accounted for 22.35% of overall GDP in real terms in Q1 2021, lower than the contribution in the fourth quarter of 2020 which stood at 26.95%, but higher than the contribution in the first quarter of 2020 which stood at 21.96%.
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Agricultural sector contribution is more than double the manufacturing sector contribution to real GDP. The manufacturing sector contributed 9.93% to real GDP, higher than the 9.65% recorded in the first quarter of 2020 and 8.60% recorded in the fourth quarter 2020.
Nigeria’s GDP grew for the second consecutive quarters in the first quarter of 2021, after the negative growth rates recorded in the second and third quarters of 2020.
Crop Production under Agricultural sector grew by 2.31% in Q1 2021 from 3.68% in Q4 2020 and 2.38% in Q1 2020.
Livestock under agriculture sector grew by 1.65% in Q1 2021 from 2.38% in Q4 2020 and 0.63% in Q1 2020.
Forestry under agriculture sector grew by 1.28% in Q1 2021 from 1.24% in Q4 2020 and 1.71% in Q1 2020.
Fishing under agriculture sector grew by 3.24% in Q1 2021 from -3.60% in Q4 2020 and 1.49% in Q1 2020.
Source of graphs: NBS Q1 2021 GDP report.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
