The 2021 mineral production statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that Nigeria produced 89.48 million tons of minerals in the year under review.
The figure is a 39.19% increase from 2020 outputs, indicating a growth in the country’s mineral production.
Annually, the NBS publishes the mineral production statistics, which gives a breakdown of the sector’s performance for the year with respect to production.
For 2021, the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory pulled a total production of 89.48 million tons of mineral, an increase from the 64.29 million tons produced in 2020.
A 3-year review of the mineral production data shows that there has been an annual growth in mineral production. From 54.51 million tons in 2019 to 89.49 million tons in 2021.
An analysis of the 2021 data shows that 10 states accounted for 88.8% of the total minerals produced in 2021.
Out of the 36 states and the FCT, Ogun state recorded the highest output — 32.04 million tons, followed by Kogi state. Each of the top 10 states recorded above 1.90 million tons of mineral production.
On the other hand, Borno, Osun, and Jigawa states recorded the lowest production, respectively.
Further analysis of the data shows that 21 states, including the FCT, increased production while production dropped in 16 states compared to their output in 2020.
Among the states that recorded a growth in production is Niger state. Its production jumped from 96,160 in 2020 to 1.02 million in 2021, representing a 965.57% increase. Rivers state followed with 765.57%.
Yobe, Benue, and Katsina also recorded at least a 250% increase in their production in 2021. Despite the high increases, except for Benue, none of the 5 states with the highest growth rate are among the top 10 states with the highest output in 2021.
Lagos state, on the other hand, tops the list of states that recorded the highest decrease in production compared to its output in the previous year. Lagos state production dropped from 67.4 million tons in 2020 to only 51,375 in 2021, representing a 99.2% decrease. This means that the state produced less than 1% of its 2020 mineral output in 2021.
Borno, Bayelsa, Adamawa, and Ekiti also had high drops in production in 2021. Production dipped by 95.4%, 94.7%, 85.8% and 78.4% decrease respectively.
Regional profile analysis shows that the South-West recorded the highest production — 35.46 million tons. North-East, on the other hand, had only 1.68 million tons output. The output is lower than what Oyo state — the 10th state with the highest production — produced.
The volume of minerals produced in the South-West is 25.2% higher than the production recorded in the South-South, North-West, South-East, and North-East combined.
A total of 46 minerals were mined in 2021, and Limestone, Granite, Laterite, and Clay were the top 4. Combined, they accounted for 90.9% of the total volume of minerals produced in the year. In 2020, these were also the biggest minerals that were mined.
With discussions around economic diversification amidst Nigeria’s depleting revenue, the mineral sector is proving a viable option, given the increased mineral output in the period under review, along with others that the government may need to explore, especially as the country thinks about a future beyond oil.
Although the contribution of the sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is still very low, in fact, with a wide margin compared to its performance in the 1980s, there has, however, been a rise in recent times signalling potential of the sector in a post-oil Nigeria.
Data from NBS shows that the mining and quarrying sector’s total contribution to the GDP has jumped from 368.9 billion in 2019 to 1.101 trillion in 2021, indicating a 198.53% increase in total output to GDP.
For context, the contribution of the sector to the country’s GDP increased from 0.26% in 2019 to 0.43% in 2020. In 2021, the sector contributed 0.63% to total GDP.
These increases, though small, signify growth and with more investments, better laws and better policies it is one of the areas the government can explore as it hopes to look away from its dependence on oil.