Telecoms sector contributes N4.84tn to GDP – NBS

Telecommunication and Information services contributed N4.84tn to the nation’s real Gross Domestic Product in the first two quarters of 2022 according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

This is despite the numerous challenges that plagued the industry in the first six months of 2022.

The figureis 10.76 per cent increase from N4.37tn the sector contributed to the GDP in the corresponding period of 2021.

In terms of nominal GDP, the sector contributed N7.94tn in the first two quarters of the year.

The NBS calculates the sector’s contribution by adding up gross outputs such as revenue from telephone, telex, facsimile, telegraph, and other income from satellite and Internet services.

It also considers intermediate consumptions such as transit fees, operational expenditure, minor repairs and maintenance, and other expenses.

According to the national statistics body, telecoms is a sub-sector of the Information and Communication sector.

The sector contributed 12.12 per cent to total nominal GDP and 18.44 per cent to total real GDP in the second quarter of 2022.

The sector is composed of the activities of telecommunications and information services; publishing; motion picture, sound recording, and music production; and broadcasting.

Telecoms and information services are the major components of the sector. Of the sector’s total nominal GDP contribution in the first two quarter of 2022, telecoms contributed 76.29 per cent, and 79.49 per cent to its total real GDP contribution.

Explaining the sector’s impact in its latest GDP data, the NBS said, “In nominal terms, in the second quarter of 2022, the sector growth was recorded at 14.11 per cent (year-on-year), 14.18 per cent points increase from the rate of -0.07 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2021, and 6.43 per cent points lower than the rate recorded in the preceding quarter.

“The quarter-on- quarter growth rate recorded in the second quarter of 2022 was 14.13 per cent. The Information and Communications sector contributed 12.12 per cent to the total nominal GDP in the 2022 second quarter, lower than the rate of 12.22 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2021 and higher than the 10.55 per cent it contributed in the preceding quarter.

“The sector in the second quarter of 2022 recorded a growth rate of 6.55 per cent in real terms, year-on-year. From the rate recorded in the corresponding period of 2021, there was an increase of 0.99 percentage points. Quarter-on-quarter, the sector exhibited a growth of 13.41 per cent in real terms.

“Of total real GDP, the sector contributed 18.44 per cent in 2022 second quarter, higher than in the same quarter of the previous year in which it represented 17.92 per cent and higher than the preceding quarter in which it represented 16.20 per cent.”

Commenting, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, attributed the growth of the telecoms sector to government’s commitment to a digital economy.

In a statement signed by his Technical Assistant (Research and Development), Dr Femi Adeluyi, he said the implementation of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a…