Nigeria’s economy expanded faster in the second quarter of 2026, according to new data from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Monday.
Real GDP grew by 4.43% year-on-year in Q2 2026. That’s up from 4.23% in Q2 2025, a 0.2 percentage point improvement.
The growth was broad-based. Agriculture rose to 4.39% from 2.82% a year earlier. The services sector also accelerated to 4.60% from 3.94% in Q2 2025, and remained the biggest part of the economy at 56.62% of total GDP. Industry growth slowed to 3.96% compared to 7.46% in the same quarter last year.
In nominal terms, GDP hit N119.27 trillion in Q2 2026. That’s 18.43% higher than the N100.7 trillion recorded in Q1 2025. Real GDP for the quarter stood at N53.47 trillion.
Oil output ticks up, but sector growth cools
Average daily crude production was 1.63 million barrels per day in Q2 2026. That’s down from 1.68 mbpd in Q2 2025, but up from 1.55 mbpd in Q1 2026.
The oil sector grew 7.31% year-on-year, a sharp drop from 20.46% in Q2 2025. It did pick up compared to 2.57% in Q1 2026, and on a quarter-on-quarter basis it grew 10.91%. Oil’s contribution to real GDP rose slightly to 4.16% from 4.05% a year ago.
Non-oil sector remains the engine
The non-oil sector accounted for 95.84% of GDP in Q2 2026 and grew 4.31% in real terms. That’s faster than the 3.64% recorded in Q2 2025 and the 3.94% in Q1 2026.
NBS said the non-oil performance was led by crop production, telecommunications, real estate, trade, financial services, cement manufacturing, and construction.
The Q2 figures suggest momentum is building in agriculture and services, even as oil production and industrial growth lag behind last year’s pace.
