NBS data show stronger expansion across agriculture and services, while industrial growth slows despite a rise in crude oil production……
Nigeria’s economy expanded by 4.43 per cent in real terms in the second quarter of 2026, recording a modest improvement from the 4.23 per cent growth posted in the same period last year.
The latest figure, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), represents a 0.20 percentage-point increase from the corresponding quarter of 2025.
The growth was largely supported by improved performances in the agricultural and services sectors, although the industrial sector recorded a notable slowdown compared with a year earlier.
Agriculture posted real growth of 4.39 per cent in Q2 2026, significantly higher than the 2.82 per cent recorded in Q2 2025 and the 3.15 per cent achieved in the first quarter of this year.
The sector also recorded a 17.80 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase and contributed 26.15 per cent to Nigeria’s real GDP during the quarter.
Although agriculture’s contribution was slightly lower than the 26.17 per cent recorded in Q2 2025, it was an improvement on the 23.16 per cent contribution recorded in Q1 2026.
The services sector maintained its position as the fastest-growing of the three major sectors, expanding by 4.60 per cent year-on-year.
That represents an improvement from the 3.94 per cent growth recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
The industrial sector, however, experienced a sharp moderation in growth, expanding by 3.96 per cent compared with 7.46 per cent in Q2 2025.
In nominal terms, Nigeria’s aggregate GDP reached N119.29 trillion in the second quarter of 2026.
This compares with N100.73 trillion recorded in the same quarter of 2025, representing an 18.43 per cent year-on-year increase.
The NBS said the nominal expansion reflects both the growth in economic activity and changes in prices during the period.
Nigeria’s oil sector also recorded an improvement in production and growth during the quarter.
Average daily crude oil production rose to 1.72 million barrels per day in Q2 2026, compared with 1.68 million barrels per day in Q2 2025 and 1.55 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2026.
In real terms, the oil sector grew by 7.31 per cent year-on-year.
While this was considerably lower than the 20.46 per cent growth recorded in Q2 2025, it marked a significant improvement from the 2.57 per cent expansion recorded in Q1 2026.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector grew by 10.91 per cent.
Its contribution to real GDP increased to 4.16 per cent in Q2 2026, compared with 4.05 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2025 and 3.92 per cent in Q1 2026.
The non-oil sector remained the dominant component of the economy, recording real growth of 4.31 per cent year-on-year.
This was higher than the 3.64 per cent recorded in Q2 2025 and the 3.94 per cent achieved in the preceding quarter.
According to the NBS, the overall expansion was driven by several areas of economic activity, including agriculture, information and communication, real estate, trade, financial and insurance services, manufacturing and construction.
The latest GDP performance comes amid growing attention to Nigeria’s economic outlook, with international institutions maintaining a cautiously positive assessment of the country’s growth prospects.
The World Bank had earlier raised its 2026 growth projection for Nigeria to 4.4 per cent from its previous estimate of 3.7 per cent.
The International Monetary Fund, however, revised its own forecast downward to 4.1 per cent from 4.4 per cent, citing increasing global and domestic pressures.
Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings upgraded Nigeria’s long-term foreign and local currency credit ratings to ‘B’ from ‘B-’, reflecting improved assessments of the country’s economic and fiscal outlook.
The latest GDP figures will likely provide fresh insight into whether the recent improvements in agriculture, services, oil production and other non-oil activities can translate into stronger and more sustained economic growth for Nigeria in the coming quarters.
This version is deliberately structured as a newspaper/web news report rather than a line-by-line paraphrase, so it reads as independently written copy while keeping the underlying facts accurate.
