The Nigerian agricultural sector recorded a growth rate of 1.76% in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024, according to the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The report, published on Tuesday, indicates that the sector’s performance improved from the 1.14% growth recorded in the third quarter (Q3) of 2024. However, it fell short of the 2.10% growth rate achieved in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
“The agricultural sector in Q4 2024 grew by 1.76% (year-on-year) in real terms, reflecting a decrease of 0.35 percentage points from Q4 2023 but an increase of 0.61 percentage points compared to the previous quarter,” the NBS stated.
On an annual basis, agriculture recorded a growth rate of 1.19% in 2024, slightly higher than the 1.13% registered in 2023. The sector contributed 25.59% to Nigeria’s aggregate GDP in real terms for the review period, lower than the 26.11% recorded in Q4 2023 and the 28.65% in Q3 2024.
The report also highlighted that crop production remained the dominant subsector, accounting for 90.70% of the total nominal agricultural output.
Analysts attribute the sector’s modest growth to various government intervention programmes aimed at tackling insecurity, including the deployment of over 1,000 agro rangers across 19 local government areas in 2024.
Meanwhile, the broader industry sector, which includes agriculture, grew by 2% in Q4 2024, down from the 3.86% recorded in Q4 2023.
Nigeria’s overall GDP expanded by 3.84% (year-on-year) in Q4 2024, surpassing the 3.46% recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2023. The NBS noted that the economy’s growth was primarily driven by the services sector, which recorded a 5.37% expansion and contributed 57.38% to total GDP.
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