In real terms, the agricultural sector in the first quarter of 2021 grew by 2.28% (year-on-year), an increase of 0.07% points from the corresponding period of 2020, but a decrease of -1.14% points from the preceding quarter which recorded a growth rate of 3.42%. Quarter-on-quarter, the agriculture sector grew at –28.61%.
This is according to the recently released Q1 2021 GDP report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Sunday.
In terms of contribution, the sector accounted for 22.35% of overall GDP in real terms in Q1 2021, higher than the contribution in the first quarter of 2020 but lower than the fourth quarter of 2020 which stood at 21.96% and 26.95% respectively.
Four sub-activities make up the Agricultural sector: Crop Production, Livestock, Forestry and Fishing.
Further analysis by Brand Spur revealed that the sector grew by 15.14% year-on-year in nominal terms in Q1 2021, showing a decline of -7.33% points from the corresponding quarter of 2020 but an increase of 1.11% points when compared with the preceding quarter’s growth rate of 14.03%.
Crop Production remained the major driver of the sector, as it accounts for 71.69% of the overall nominal growth of the sector in the first quarter of 2021. Quarter-on-quarter growth stood at –18.80% in the first quarter of 2021.
Agriculture contributed 21.42% to nominal GDP in the first quarter of 2021. This figure was higher than the rates recorded for the first quarter of 2020 but lower than the fourth quarter of 2020 which recorded 20.88% and 24.23% respectively.
