Economics

Africa’s Largest Economy Unexpectedly Exits Recession

  • Nigeria GDP grew 0.11% in fourth quarter; estimate -1.86%
  • Oil production fell to 1.56 barrels per day in fourth quarter
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Nigeria’s economy unexpectedly came out of a recession in the fourth quarter as growth in agriculture and telecommunications offset a sharp drop in oil production.

Gross domestic product grew 0.11% in the three months through December from a year earlier, compared with a decline of 3.6% in the third quarter, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said on its website on Thursday. The median estimate of five economists in a Bloomberg survey was for a quarterly decline of 1.86%. The economy contracted 1.92% for the full year, the most since at least 1991, according to International Monetary Fund data.