Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on Thursday that it will incorporate illegal and hidden economic activities into its calculation of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
This move aims to provide a more accurate reflection of the country’s economic size, which has been impacted by a significant informal sector.
Nigeria, currently the fourth-largest economy in Africa, will be revising its GDP for the first time since 2010.
The new calculation will consider 2019 as the base year and will include previously unaccounted-for sectors such as the digital economy, health and social insurance, pensions, modular refineries, mining, and household employment.
The NBS official, Moses Waniko, acknowledged that this revision could lead to a significant increase in the estimated GDP size.
He also noted that this would likely impact other key economic indicators, such as the tax-to-GDP ratio and the debt-to-GDP ratio.
The contribution of the crude oil sector to the Nigerian economy is expected to decrease in the revised figures, while the real estate sector is projected to move up to third place, after agriculture and trade.
This initiative by the NBS underscores the government’s efforts to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the Nigerian economy and to improve the accuracy of its economic data.