By Tony Obiechina Abuja
The National Bureau of Statistics has almost completed the process of Rebasing or Re – Benchmarking of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is set to launch the Report.
GDP is the market value of all the goods and services produced within a country in a given period. GDP measures overall economic activity and signals the direction of economic growth.
It is also a barometer for measuring the health of the economy. Furthermore, GDP is an internationally recognised indicator for comparing the size of the economies of the world.
It is important that GDP is rebased from time to time because of several factors or reasons. One of such is the dynamism of the economy in terms of growth and recession. The dimensions of growth and recession need to be properly captured to give more insights into the economic situation of the country.
Over time, prices and the structure of the economy change due to the introduction of new products and the alteration in the variety of products and services due to technological innovations which calls for the rebasing of the GDP to give a realistic information about the economy at the present.
The activities of some sectors of the economy have grown tremendously since the last rebasing, making them significant among other sectors of the economy. They include Marine and Blue Economy; Art, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy; Information and Communication Technology, Innovation and Digital Economy and E-activities.
These developments need to be adequately captured in GDP compilation.
It is note worthy that the current rebasing will be using the frameworks for the compilation of National Accounts, such as, the latest International Standard Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC Rev. 4.0), Central Product Classifications (CPC 2.0), and 2008 System of National Accounts (2008 SNA).
Key benefits of GDP rebasing include, the rebasing exercise will enable policy makers and analysts obtain a more accurate set of economic statistics that is a truer reflection of the current realities for evidence–based decision making.
It also reveals a more accurate estimate of the size and structure of the economy by incorporating new economic activities which were not previously captured in the computational framework.
Rebasing will enable government to have a better understanding of the structure of the economy, an indication of sectoral growth drivers, sectors where policies and resources should be channelled in order to grow the economy, create jobs, improve infrastructure and reduce poverty.
In the words of Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran, Statistician – General and CEO of National Bureau of Statistics.”We will be excited to share our findings, providing valuable insights into the Nigerian Economy”- Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran, Statistician – General and CEO of National Bureau of Statistics.
The Bureau will be launching the Rebased GDP by the end of January 2025, during which the full details of the report will be made available to the public.
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