NIGERIA'S recent economic woes have not been that damaging that they have knocked her off the perch as Africa's largest economy and she still remains number one in the continent according to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Since the return to democracy in 1999, Nigeria has enjoyed an average gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of around 7% but since the start of this year, the country has been in recession after suffering two quarters of back-to-back negative growth. In August 2016, Nigeria was reported to have lost its spot as Africa’s biggest economy to South Africa, following the recalculation of the country’s GDP but the IMF has debunked this claim.
According to the latest estimates from the IMF, Nigeria’s GDP has been at $415.080bn, compared with $493.831bn at the end of 2015. Furthermore, the IMF World Economic Outlook for October 2016 puts South Africa’s GDP at $280.367bn, compared with $314.73bn a year earlier.
Egypt’s 2016 data was reported as not available but its 2015 size remained at $330.16bn while that of Algeria, another one of the largest economies on the continent, was put at $168.318bn. According to the IMF, the US, China and Japan maintained their spots as the largest economies in the world, with GDPs of $18.56trn, $11.39trn and $4.73trn respectively.
IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, said that global growth had been too slow for too long. She added that the IMF expects economic growth of 3.1% in 2016, reviewed from 3.4% last year.
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