Telecoms Industry Contributed N1.8tn to Q2 GDP

The National Bureau of Statistics on Sunday said the  telecommunications  sector  contributed  N1.58tn in real terms to the country’s second quarter Gross Domestic Product.

It said the second quarter performance for the telecoms sector represented about 9.8 per cent of the total second quarter GDP.

In the telecoms report released by the NBS, it said that this was the largest contribution to the GDP  from  this  sector  in  the  rebased  period,  which  emphasised  that growth in telecommunications  remained robust when compared to total GDP.

It said, “Although  growth  in  the  telecommunications  sector  remained  positive,  in contrast  with  the  economy  as  a  whole,  year-on-year  growth  nevertheless

dropped  in  real  terms  from  five per cent  in  the  previous  quarter  to  1.5 per cent,  the  lowest rate since 2011 Q3.

“The share of telecommunications in total real GDP had declined throughout 2010 to 2014, but for the last five quarters,  growth in telecommunications has been higher, meaning the trend has reversed.”

In terms of subscriber base, the report by the NBS stated that this had increased rapidly over the past decade noting that the sector now has a total number of 149.8 million as of the end of the second quarter.

The report said at the end of 2005, there were 19.51 million subscribers, adding this had risen by 13.14 million to 151.01 million by the end of 2015

However, it stated that growth had been declining more recently, as a result of high market penetration, which had left less room for large expansion.