
It is reported that in the second quarter of 2021, the information and communications technology (ICT) sector contributed a remarkable 17.92 per cent of Nigeria’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP). According to a National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report, this represents a 3.01 per cent increase over the previous quarter’s GDP contributions.
However, the telecoms industry, which contributed 14.43 per cent to the country’s GDP in the second quarter of 2021, is primarily responsible for the ICT sector’s contribution, according to industry statistics issued by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Telecommunications and information services, sound recording and music production, publishing, motion pictures, and broadcasting are the four activities that make up the Information and Communication sector.
According to the NBS report, the nation’s GDP increased by 5.01 per cent overall due to the non-oil sector’s enormous contributions, which expanded by 6.74 per cent in real terms during the second quarter of 2021. Similarly, the ICT sector grew 5.55 per cent in real terms year on year (YoY) in the second quarter, but by -9.54 per cent points compared to the second quarter of 2020.
The ICT sector has become a key contributor to the country’s GDP and has maintained steady development, eventually displacing crude oil as the economy’s backbone. According to the NCC, the telecom industry contributed 14.42 per cent to GDP in the first quarter of 2021, which is 2.76 per cent more than the first quarter of 2021 and 1.97 per cent higher than the fourth quarter of 2020.
The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics report states that the oil sector contributed 7.42 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP in the second quarter of 2021. However, the above mentioned is down 1.83 per cent from the previous quarter. The decrease is the result of lower oil production and crude oil prices.