Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, accelerating from the 3.89 per cent recorded in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.
The latest growth rate also represents an improvement over the 4.23 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025, according to the NBS Q2 2026 GDP report released on Monday.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the economy also expanded, reflecting stronger economic activity during the three-month period.
The performance was largely driven by the non-oil economy, which grew by 4.31 per cent in real terms during the quarter and accounted for 95.84 per cent of total real GDP.
The oil sector also contributed to the improvement, recording real growth of 7.31 per cent in Q2, compared with 2.57 per cent in the first quarter.
Average daily crude oil production increased to 1.72 million barrels per day (mbpd), from 1.55mbpd in Q1 and 1.68mbpd in Q2 2025.
The services sector remained the largest contributor to economic output, growing by 4.60 per cent in Q2, compared with 3.94 per cent a year earlier.
Agriculture also strengthened significantly, expanding by 4.39 per cent, up from 2.82 per cent in Q2 2025.
Industry, however, grew by 3.96 per cent, representing a sharp slowdown from the 7.46 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2025.
The sectoral figures reveal a key weakness beneath the headline 4.43 per cent GDP growth:
While the overall economy accelerated, industrial growth almost halved from its Q2 2025 level of 7.46 per cent to 3.96 per cent.
Manufacturing grew by 3.24 per cent, while construction expanded by 6.75 per cent.
The industrial performance was also weighed down by electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply, which contracted by 10.63 per cent during the quarter.
Manufacturing performance remained uneven, with oil refining recording 43.94 per cent growth and cement 12.75 per cent, while textile, apparel and footwear contracted by 1.23 per cent.
Motor vehicles and assembly also declined by 1.02 per cent.
The figures suggest that while Nigeria’s economy is gaining overall momentum, the recovery is yet to translate into equally strong growth across productive industrial activities.
In nominal terms, GDP stood at N119.29 trillion in Q2 2026, compared with N100.73 trillion in Q2 2025, representing an 18.43 per cent increase.
The latest GDP performance therefore presents a mixed picture: economic growth has accelerated, supported strongly by services, agriculture and oil production, but the sharp moderation in industrial growth and contraction in electricity supply remain challenges to a broader and more sustainable expansion.
