An economist, Mr Andrew Uviase, says the recent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report shows that Nigeria’s economy is not improving as it should.
In the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the Q3:2023 GDP report shows a 2.5% yearon-year improvement.
Uviase, who is the Managing Partner at
Ecovis OUC, a leading tax, accounting and audit consulting fi rm, expressed worry over the parallel growth rates of the Nigerian population (2.5%) and the real GDP (2.5%), emphasising that this signals a stagnating economy.
“Th e Nigerian population growth rate is 2.5%, while the GDP growth rate in real times is also 2.5%. Th is is very worrisome, and it’s a clear signal that the economy is stagnating.
When the real GDP growth is compared with the changes in the age distribution of the population and the age of our decaying infrastructure, we can better imagine the level of deterioration that the present results portend for the well-being of our
citizens,” he said.
Highlighting major areas of concern, Uviase underlined the decline in the real sector of agriculture and industrial sectors’ contributions to GDP, while the services sector is on the
rise.
He advocated for a more transparent approach to
GDP reporting, suggesting that nominal and real
GDP fi gures should be presented in the analysis for easy comparison between periods.
