International Journal of Research in Social Sciences

This paper studied economic recession and industrial growth in Nigeria between the periods Jan 2016 to Dec 2017. The major objective of this research is to assess the industrial sector's growth for the period with a view to determining the extent to which the economic recession indices have affected its growth. The data used for the study were sourced from the CBN statistical bulletin 2017 quarterly edition and we adopted the Chow-Test analysis in order to determine if there exists a structural break in industrial growth for the period. Analysis of the chow-test revealed the existence of a structural break in industrial output starting from June 2016 marking a negative effect of GDP growth rate and inflation rate on industrial sector's output during the one-year period of recession. Furthermore, industrial sector's output increased after the exit from recession in July 2017 with GDP and inflation rates exerting positive relationships with industrial output. The implication of this finding is that the industrial sector has been significantly affected by the recession and that the structural break led to inflation rate and GDP affecting industrial output negatively. It is recommended that the industrial sector be further strengthened towards a steady recovery by way of favourable foreign exchange controls to make the sector accessible to needed raw materials and machineries needed to stimulate industrial production, consumption and economic growth in Nigeria.