Nigeria’s GDP Growth Hits 4.43% as Agriculture, Services Drive Expansion

Nigeria’s economy grew by 4.43 percent in real terms in the second quarter of 2026, up from 4.23 percent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, as stronger performances in agriculture and services helped sustain economic expansion despite a sharp slowdown in industry.

The latest growth rate, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, represents a 0.20 percentage-point improvement over the same quarter last year, pointing to a modest strengthening of economic activity.

Agriculture recorded one of the strongest improvements, growing by 4.39 percent in real terms, compared with 2.82 percent in Q2 2025 and 3.15 percent in the first quarter of 2026.

The sector expanded by 17.80 percent quarter-on-quarter and accounted for 26.15 percent of real GDP during the quarter. Its contribution was slightly lower than the 26.17 percent recorded a year earlier, but higher than the 23.16 percent recorded in Q1 2026.

Services remained the fastest-growing of the three major sectors, expanding by 4.60 percent year-on-year in Q2, compared with 3.94 percent in the corresponding period of 2025.

Industry, however, posted a significantly weaker performance, with growth slowing to 3.96 percent from 7.46 percent a year earlier.

The oil sector provided some support to overall growth, expanding by 7.31 percent year-on-year, although this was substantially below the 20.46 percent recorded in Q2 2025. Its performance nevertheless improved from the 2.57 percent growth recorded in Q1 2026.

Average daily crude oil production also increased to 1.72 million barrels per day in Q2, from 1.68 million barrels per day in the same quarter of 2025 and 1.55 million barrels per day in Q1 2026.

Oil accounted for 4.16 percent of real GDP during the quarter, compared with 4.05 percent a year earlier and 3.92 percent in Q1.

The non-oil sector grew by 4.31 percent year-on-year, improving from 3.64 percent in Q2 2025 and 3.94 percent in the preceding quarter.

According to the NBS, the expansion was driven mainly by agriculture, information and communication, real estate, trade, financial and insurance services, manufacturing and construction.

In nominal terms, aggregate GDP stood at N119.29 trillion in Q2, compared with N100.73 trillion in Q2 2025, representing an 18.43 percent year-on-year increase.