Nigeria suffers economic downturn as GDP/capita falls 72% – IMF.
Africa’s largest oil producer, home to over 200 million people, has witnessed a worsening economic downturn in 10 years, with its GDP per capita plummeting by 72.35 per cent.
Data obtained from the website of the International Monetary Fund indicated that Nigeria’s GDP per capita declined from $3,022 in 2014 to just $835.49 in 2024, signaling a sharp contraction in the average economic output per person.
The country’s total Gross Domestic Product—the overall value of goods and services produced—also fell steeply, from $568.5bn recorded in 2014 to $194.96bn in 2024, marking a staggering 65.71 per cent decline over the period.
Beyond the contraction in economic output, Nigeria’s real GDP growth has also slowed considerably.
The IMF data showed that real GDP growth, which measures economic expansion adjusted for inflation, stood at 6.3 per cent in 2014 but has dropped to 2.9 per cent in 2024.
The economic crisis has been exacerbated by policy reforms initiated in 2023 under President Bola Tinubu, who is currently in Ethiopia for the African Union summit, just a week after visiting Emmanuel Macron in France.
The fuel subsidy removal— one of the reforms, triggered a sharp increase in petrol prices, fueling inflation that surged to 34.8 per cent in December 2024.
Source: PUNCHNG
