World Bank Declares Nigeria Exited Recession Faster Than Expected

The World Bank has said Nigeria moved out of last year’s recession faster than expected.

Nigeria moved into recession in the second quarter of 2020 as a result of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic but emerged from it in the fourth quarter.

The bank, in its newly released Africa’s Pulse report, said real GDP in West and Central Africa was estimated to have contracted by 1.1 per cent in 2020, less than projected in the October 2020 Africa’s Pulse forecast, partly owing to a less severe contraction than expected in Nigeria in the second half of the year.

“Following a 6.1 per cent year-on-year contraction in 2020Q2, Nigeria’s economy contracted by 3.6 per cent in 2020Q3, and expanded by 0.1 per cent in 2020Q4, moving out of recession faster than expected” the World Bank report stated.

Equally important, the World Bank noted that a rebound in the non-oil sector was responsible for Nigeria’s exit from recession; even as it disclosed that the oil sector weakened in Q4 2020 despite higher global prices.

According to the reports,consumer spending and business investment are likely to remain subdued in 2021 as double-digit inflation, high unemployment, and the slow rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine weigh on households’ real income and business confidence.