Nigeria’s economy grows 4.43% in Q2 2026 — NBS

Nigeria's economy expanded by 4.43 percent year-on-year in real terms during the second quarter of 2026, marking a slight upward trend compared to the previous year. This growth rate, announced by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report for Q2'26, surpassed the 4.23 percent recorded in the same period last year and improved upon the 3.89 percent growth observed in the first quarter of 2026. The NBS released the report on Monday, highlighting a continuation of the gradual economic recovery that has been unfolding over the past year. The overall economic expansion in 2025 was 3.87 percent, which was better than the 3.38 percent recorded in 2024. The current quarterly performance marked the strongest growth since the third quarter of 2024, when the economy had grown by 3.86 percent. In nominal terms, Nigeria’s GDP reached ₦119.29 trillion in Q2'26, while the real GDP was estimated at ₦53.47 trillion. Both the oil and non-oil sectors showed signs of stronger growth compared to the previous quarter, though the non-oil economy still dominated the overall contribution to GDP. The services sector remained the primary driver of economic growth in Q2'26, contributing 56.62 percent to real GDP. This was a marginal increase from the 56.53 percent recorded in the same quarter of 2025. The services sector itself saw a real growth of 4.60 percent, up from 3.94 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2025. The agricultural sector followed closely behind, contributing 26.15 percent to real GDP and recording a growth of 4.39 percent. This represented a significant improvement from the 2.82 percent growth in the second quarter of 2025, despite ongoing challenges such as insecurity, high input costs, climate-related issues, and inadequate infrastructure. In contrast, the industrial sector experienced a slowdown, growing by 3.96 percent in Q2'26 compared to 7.46 percent in the same period of 2025. The industrial sector accounted for 17.23 percent of real GDP during the quarter. Despite the slower growth in this sector, the overall GDP figure indicated a positive trajectory for the Nigerian economy, albeit one that remains modest in comparison to the nation's developmental needs. The oil sector also showed signs of improvement, with average daily oil production rising to 1.72 million barrels per day (mbpd) in Q2'26. This was an increase from 1.55 mbpd in the first quarter of 2026 and higher than the 1.68 mbpd recorded in the second quarter of 2025. The real growth of the oil sector was 7.31 percent year-on-year in Q2'26, which was a decrease of 13.15 percentage points compared to the 20.46 percent growth recorded in the same quarter of 2025. However, the oil sector still contributed only 4.16 percent to total real GDP in Q2'26, slightly up from 4.05 percent in Q2'25 and 3.92 percent in Q1'26. The non-oil sector, which made up 95.84 percent of real GDP in Q2'26, grew by 4.31 percent in real terms. This was an increase from the 3.64 percent recorded in Q2'25 and higher than the 3.94 percent growth in Q1'26. The performance of the non-oil sector was primarily driven by agriculture, particularly crop production; information and communication, especially telecommunications; real estate; trade; financial and insurance services; manufacturing, notably cement production; and construction. These sectors collectively contributed significantly to the overall economic growth, underscoring the resilience of the non-oil economy in driving national development.