Get Guardian on GoogleNigeria’s private sector strengthened its expansion in October, as improved activity in agriculture and industry lifted the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) to 53.2 points, extending the economy’s growth streak to five consecutive months.
The latest figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the composite PMI rose from 53.0 points in September, with 24 of the 32 subsectors surveyed recording expansion, while eight contracted.
Agriculture recorded the strongest performance among the three major sectors, with its PMI increasing to 54.7 points from 53.1 points in the preceding month. This marked the sector’s 27th consecutive month of expansion, with all five sub-sectors recording growth.
Industry also strengthened, as its PMI climbed to 52.6 points from 52.0 points in September, marking its third consecutive month of expansion. Twelve of the 16 subsectors surveyed recorded growth, while four contracted.
The services sector, however, recorded a moderation in activity, with its PMI declining to 52.7 points from 53.2 points, although it remained in expansion for the fourth consecutive month. Seven of its 11 sub-sectors expanded, while four contracted.
The improvement in the composite index was supported by stronger output and employment, although new orders and raw materials inventories recorded marginal declines.
The composite output index increased to 54.6 points from 53.9 points, while the employment index rose to 53.2 points from 51.5 points, indicating improved production activity and employment conditions.
However, the new orders index eased to 52.8 points from 53.7 points, while the raw materials inventory index slipped to 51.9 points from 52.1 points.
Export and import orders remained below the 50-point threshold, despite improving to 48.8 and 49.0 points, respectively, suggesting that external trade-related demand remained relatively weak.
A breakdown of sectoral performance showed that cement was the strongest-performing industrial subsector, recording 60.2 points, while Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products remained the weakest at 43.4 points.
In agriculture, Livestock led with 56.4 points, followed by Forestry at 55.3 points. Educational Services emerged as the strongest services subsector, also recording 60.2 points, while Arts, Entertainment and Recreation recorded the weakest performance at 47.1 points.
Meanwhile, the survey highlighted persistent price pressures across businesses, as the composite input price index increased by 0.7 points to 64.0 points, while the output price index rose by 0.5 points to 58.9 points.
