(Ecofin Agency) - According to the National Bureau of Statistics of Nigeria (NBS), the country’s GDP has contracted by 0.52% year on year in Q1 2017, as compared to 0.67% in the same period last year. 

In details, Nigeria’s oil industry slumped 11.6% from a year earlier, while agriculture expanded 3.4%, the slowest pace since the first three months of last year, NBS said. 

Forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank respectively indicate that the country’s GDP will grow by 0.8% and 1.2% this year. The performance would be spurred by a boost in oil output and increased state spending. 

Last year, Nigeria’s GDP slumped by 1.5% as the result of lower revenues from oil, its main export. The nation susbsequently entered its first recession in 25 years.