Nigeria GDP rebasing cuts 2013 growth to 5.49%

ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria's actual GDP growth rate for 2013 has been revised down to 5.49 percent, from 7.41 pct previously estimated during a rebasing exercise, the statistics office said on Friday.

In a surprise data release, the office also said GDP growth for 2012 had been revised down to 4.21 percent, from a previous estimate of 6.5 percent.

Nigeria overtook South Africa as Africa's largest economy in April, after a rebasing calculation almost doubled its gross domestic product to more than $500 billion.