The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is set to rebase the country’s Gross Domestic’s Product (GDP) statistics from a base year of 2010 to 2018/2019.
The NBS made this known in a press statement signed by Ichedi, Sunday Joel, Head of Public and International Relations, stating that it had commenced the National Business Sample Survey (NBSS), which involves the in-depth study of sampled establishments based on specific sectors.
The objective of the NBSS according to the NBS include:
- To rebase the GDP from 2010 to 2018/2019
- To provide sectorial data at the National and State levels
- To determine the structure of the Nigerian economy
- To determine the sectors that drive the Nigerian economy and those that require require government intervention to improve
- To serve as a benchmark for subsequent commercial and industrial Sector Statistics Surveys.
The NBSS survey will cover the thirty-six (36) states of the Federation, including FCT. In all, seventeen sectors of the Nigerian economy will be covered during the survey exercise according to the NBS.
The last rebasing exercise of Nigeria’s GDP done in 2014 by the NBS saw the size of the economy jumping some 89 percent as various new sectors were better identified and measured, owing to the changing structure of the Nigerian economy.
The rebased data in 2014 pushed overall nominal GDP to about $510bn revealing sectors poised for growth such as financial services, cement companies, Telecoms, and FMCG manufacturers.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) rebased GDP figures also showed a reclassification of sectors of economic activity from 33 to 46 sub-sectors.