The contribution of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector to Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Q3 2024 dropped to 16.35 per cent from the 19.78 per cent it added in the Q2.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in the Q3 2024 GDP statistics released in Abuja, Monday.
However, the sector’s contribution was higher than the 15.97% it made during the same period last year.
The ICT sector, according to NBS, comprises the four activities of Telecommunications and Information Services; Publishing; Motion Picture, Sound Recording, and Music Production; and Broadcasting.
The sector in the third quarter of 2024 recorded a growth rate of 5.92% in real terms, year-on-year. This was driven largely by activities in the telecommunications sub-sector, which contributed 13.94% to the GDP in the real term.
According to NBS, the telecom industry was the third-largest contributor to the real GDP in Q3 2024, coming behind only crop production and trade industries, which contributed 26.51 per cent and 14.78 per cent respectively.
The telecom industry, which is dominated by mobile network operators including MTN, Globacom, Airtel, 9mobile, and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) is also driving a lot of activities in every other sector of the economy.
The closest sub-sector to telecoms in the ICT sector in terms of contribution was broadcasting, which added 1.37 per cent.
A deep dive into the NBS data revealed that the ICT sector contributed 11.30 per cent to the total Nominal GDP in the third quarter of 2024, lower than the rate of 11.57 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2023 and lower than the 14.19 per cent it contributed in the preceding quarter.
In nominal terms, in the third quarter of 2024, the sector growth was recorded at 14.51 per cent (year-on-year), a 25.75 per cent points decrease from the rate of 40.27 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2023, and 2.65 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in the preceding quarter.
