The Nigerian economy recorded a 5.01 per cent annual growth in real terms in the second quarter of 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

The rise marked the third consecutive quarter of growth following the negative growth rates recorded in the second and third quarters of 2020.

The second quarter growth rate was higher than the -6.10 per cent growth rate recorded in the second quarter of 2020 and the 0.51 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2021.

Africa’s biggest economy went into recession in 2020 after two quarters of economic decline as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that shut businesses and economies globally.

This indicates “the return of business and economic activity near levels seen prior to the nationwide implementation of COVID-19 related restrictions”, the NBS said.

“The steady recovery observed since the end of 2020, with the gradual return of commercial activity as well as local and international travel, accounted for the significant increase in growth performance relative to the second quarter of 2020 when nationwide restrictions took effect,” it said.

Real GDP grew 2.70% in 2021 compared to -2.18% for the first half of 2020.

With regard to quarter on quarter growth, real GDP grew at -0.79% in Q2 2021 compared to Q1 2021, reflecting slightly slower economic activity than the preceding quarter due largely to seasonality.

In the quarter under review, average daily oil production stood at 1.61 million barrels per day (mbpd), which is -0.19mbpd lower than the average daily production of 1.81mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2020 and -0.10mbpd lower than the 1.72mbpd recorded in the first quarter of 2021.

Meanwhile, real growth of the oil sector was –12.65% (year-on-year) in Q2 2021 indicating a decrease of –6.02% points relative to the growth rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020.

“Performance in the non-oil sector grew by 6.74% in real terms during the reference quarter (Q2 2021). The Q2 2021 growth rate was higher by 12.80% points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2020 and 5.95% points higher than the first quarter of 2021,” the NBS said.

It added that during the quarter, the non-oil sector was driven mainly by growth in trade, information and communication (Telecommunication), transportation (Road Transport), electricity, agriculture (Crop Production) and manufacturing (Food, Beverage & Tobacco).