The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has commended the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for its recent rebasing of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, while urging the statistical agency to institutionalize more regular and timely rebasing exercises to maintain the credibility of the country’s economic data.
In a statement signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Muda Yusuf, the CPPE described the NBS’s decision to rebase the GDP to a new base year of 2019 as “significant milestone” in Nigeria’s economic management efforts.
The move, the organisation said, “aligns Nigeria’s statistical reporting with international best practices.”
The statement read, in part, “The CPPE urges that future re-basing exercises be conducted more regularly and in a timely manner, in line with global standards, to maintain the relevance and credibility of Nigeria’s economic data.”
The CPPE also advocates for more frequent and timely GDP re-basing exercises to ensure that economic data remains current and relevant for policy and investment decisions.
According to the NBS, Nigeria’s GDP stood at N372.8 trillion in 2024, after the base year for calculating the figure was shifted to 2019.
The NBS, which made this known in a report published Monday titled “Rebasing of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”, said the rebased GDP figures were arrived at using a base year of 2019.
“In nominal terms, the rebased GDP for 2019 stood at N205.09trillion, N213.63 trillion in 2020, N243.30 trillion in 2021, N274.23 trillion in 2022, N314.02 trillion in 2023, and N372.82 trillion in 2024,” it said.
“This revision represents a 41.7% increase in nominal estimates compared to a 59.7% revision in the 2010 rebasing exercise.”
According to the NBS report, the rebased nominal GDP at basic prices in 2019 reflected a 41.7% increase over the 2019 nominal GDP calculated using the old 2010 base year. This upward revision continued in subsequent years, with the rebased figures showing increases of 39.0% in 2020, 38.7% in 2021, 36.1% in 2022, 34.6% in 2023, and 35.4% in 2024.
The report noted that the real GDP growth post-rebasing is estimated at -6.96% in 2020 during the covid pandemic, 0.95% in 2021, 4.32% in 2022, 3.04% in 2023 and 3.38% in 2024.
According to the report, the agricultural sector led in growth, recording its highest rate of 2.66% in 2020. In contrast, both the industrial and services sectors experienced contractions that year, with the industry sector shrinking by 22.72% and the services sector by 5.37%.
In January, NBS announced the rebasing of Nigeria’s GDP data, with 2019 selected as the new base year.
This decision, according to the NBS, was driven by the year’s status as a period of “relative economic stability” compared to other recent years, which were marked by significant economic shocks.