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Nigeria Economy Profile

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Economy - overview

Nigeria is Sub Saharan Africa’s largest economy and relies heavily on oil as its main source of foreign exchange earnings and government revenues. Following the 2008-09 global financial crises, the banking sector was effectively recapitalized and regulation enhanced. Since then, Nigeria’s economic growth has been driven by growth in agriculture, telecommunications, and services. Economic diversification and strong growth have not translated into a significant decline in poverty levels; over 62% of Nigeria's over 180 million people still live in extreme poverty.

Despite its strong fundamentals, oil-rich Nigeria has been hobbled by inadequate power supply, lack of infrastructure, delays in the passage of legislative reforms, an inefficient property registration system, restrictive trade policies, an inconsistent regulatory environment, a slow and ineffective judicial system, unreliable dispute resolution mechanisms, insecurity, and pervasive corruption. Regulatory constraints and security risks have limited new investment in oil and natural gas, and Nigeria's oil production had been contracting every year since 2012 until a slight rebound in 2017.

President BUHARI, elected in March 2015, has established a cabinet of economic ministers that includes several technocrats, and he has announced plans to increase transparency, diversify the economy away from oil, and improve fiscal management, but has taken a primarily protectionist approach that favors domestic producers at the expense of consumers. President BUHARI ran on an anti-corruption platform, and has made some headway in alleviating corruption, such as implementation of a Treasury Single Account that allows the government to better manage its resources and a more transparent government payroll and personnel system that eliminated duplicate and "ghost workers." The government also is working to develop stronger public-private partnerships for roads, agriculture, and power.

Nigeria entered recession in 2016 as a result of lower oil prices and production, exacerbated by militant attacks on oil and gas infrastructure in the Niger Delta region, coupled with detrimental economic policies, including foreign exchange restrictions. GDP growth turned positive in 2017 as oil prices recovered and output stabilized.

GDP (purchasing power parity)$1,032,048,000,000 (2019 est.)

$1,009,748,000,000 (2018 est.)

$990.7 billion (2017 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars
GDP (official exchange rate)$475.062 billion (2019 est.)
GDP - real growth rate0.8% (2017 est.)

-1.6% (2016 est.)

2.7% (2015 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP)$5,136 (2019 est.)

$5,155 (2018 est.)

$5,190 (2017 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars
Gross national saving23.2% of GDP (2019 est.)

19.3% of GDP (2018 est.)

18.3% of GDP (2017 est.)
GDP - composition, by end usehousehold consumption: 80% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 5.8% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 14.8% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 0.7% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 11.9% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -13.2% (2017 est.)
GDP - composition by sectoragriculture: 21.1% (2016 est.)

industry: 22.5% (2016 est.)

services: 56.4% (2017 est.)
Ease of Doing Business Index scoresOverall score: 56.9 (2020)

Starting a Business score: 86.2 (2020)

Trading score: 29.2 (2020)

Enforcement score: 61.5 (2020)
Population below poverty line40.1% (2018 est.)
Labor force60.08 million (2017 est.)
Labor force - by occupationagriculture: 70%

industry: 10%

services: 20% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate16.5% (2017 est.)

13.9% (2016 est.)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24total: 18.3%

male: 18.4% NA

female: 18.2% NA (2019 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage sharelowest 10%: 1.8%

highest 10%: 38.2% (2010 est.)
Distribution of family income - Gini index35.1 (2018 est.)

50.6 (1997)
Budgetrevenues: 12.92 billion (2017 est.)

expenditures: 19.54 billion (2017 est.)
Taxes and other revenues3.4% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)-1.8% (of GDP) (2017 est.)
Public debt21.8% of GDP (2017 est.)

19.6% of GDP (2016 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)11.3% (2019 est.)

12.1% (2018 est.)

16.5% (2017 est.)
Credit ratingsFitch rating: B (2020)

Moody's rating: B2 (2017)

Standard & Poors rating: B- (2020)
Agriculture - productscassava, yams, maize, oil palm fruit, rice, vegetables, sorghum, groundnuts, fruit, sweet potatoes
Industriescrude oil, coal, tin, columbite; rubber products, wood; hides and skins, textiles, cement and other construction materials, food products, footwear, chemicals, fertilizer, printing, ceramics, steel
Industrial production growth rate2.2% (2017 est.)
Current Account Balance$10.38 billion (2017 est.)

$2.714 billion (2016 est.)
Exports$34.545 billion (2020 est.)

$62.531 billion (2019 est.)

$60.547 billion (2018 est.)
Exports - commoditiescrude petroleum, natural gas, scrap vessels, flexible metal tubing, cocoa beans (2019)
Exports - partnersIndia 16%, Spain 10%, United States 7%, France 7%, Netherlands 6% (2019)
Imports$32.67 billion (2017 est.)

$35.24 billion (2016 est.)
Imports - commoditiesrefined petroleum, cars, wheat, laboratory glassware, packaged medicines (2019)
Imports - partnersChina 30%, Netherlands 11%, United States 6%, Belgium 5% (2019)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold$38.77 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$25.84 billion (31 December 2016 est.)
Debt - external$26.847 billion (2019 est.)

$22.755 billion (2018 est.)
Exchange ratesnairas (NGN) per US dollar -

383.5 (2020 est.)

362.75 (2019 est.)

363 (2018 est.)

192.73 (2014 est.)

158.55 (2013 est.)
Fiscal yearcalendar year

Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021

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