The National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday released the full-year 2017 Gross Domestic Product growth rate for the country, with the economy growing by 0.82 per cent. The 0.82 per cent growth in GDP was an improvement over the contraction of -1.58 per cent, which the economy recorded in 2016 during the period of recession. The bureau, in the report that was made available to our correspondent, said the economy further consolidated its recovery from recession with the GDP growing by 1.92 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2017, as against 1.4 per cent in the third quarter. It stated, “The nation’s GDP grew in Q4 2017 by 1.92 per cent year-on-year in real terms, maintaining its positive growth since the emergence of the economy from recession in Q2 2017. This growth is compared to a contraction of -1.73 per cent recorded in Q4 2016 and a growth of 1.40 per cent recorded in Q3 2017. Quarter-on-quarter, the real GDP growth was 4.29 per cent. “The year 2017 recorded a real annual growth rate of 0.83 per cent, higher than -1.58 per cent recorded in 2016.” The NBS report added that the economy in the fourth quarter recorded aggregate GDP of N31.2tn in nominal terms, which was higher when compared to N29.16tn in the corresponding fourth quarter of 2016. In the fourth quarter of 2017, the report added that oil production averaged 1.91 million barrels per day, noting that this was 0.12 million barrels lower than the daily average production recorded in the third quarter. For the non-oil sector, the report stated that it grew by 1.45 per cent in real terms during the fourth quarter of last year, as it recorded an annual growth rate of 0.47 per cent compared to -0.22 per cent in 2016. The growth in the non-oil sector, according to the report, was driven mainly by agriculture (crop), trade, transportation and storage. In real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 92.83 per cent to the nation’s GDP, lower from the 93.25 per cent share recorded in the fourth quarter of 2016. It noted that the overall GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2017 was driven by the rise in crop, crude and natural gas, metal ores, construction, transportation and storage, trade, electricity and gas production. For instance, the report stated that crop production grew by 4.58 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to 3.19 per cent in the third quarter. Crude production, it noted, grew by 8.38 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to 25.89 per cent in the previous three months. Source: The Punch