By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s economy grew by 4.43 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026 from the 3.89 per cent recorded in the preceding quarter.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was buoyed by growth in both the oil and non-oil sectors compared with the first quarter of the year.
The country’s economy expanded by 3.87 per cent in real terms in 2025 compared with 3.38 per cent in 2024. The 4.43 per cent print was higher than the 4.23 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2025.
However, growth remains well below the 7 per cent annual rate that President Bola Tinubu has targeted by 2027.
During the quarter under review, the stats office said the agriculture sector grew by 4.39 per cent, better than the 2.82 per cent achieved in the corresponding quarter of 2025. The growth of the industry sector stood at 3.96 per cent, slowing heavily from 7.46 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2025, while the services sector recorded a growth of 4.60 per cent from 3.94 per cent in the same quarter of 2025.
In terms of share of the GDP, the services sector contributed more to the aggregate GDP in the second quarter of 2026 at 56.62 per cent compared to the corresponding quarter of 2025 at 56.53 per cent.
In terms of nominal terms, aggregate GDP at basic prices stood at N119.29 trillion in nominal terms. This performance is higher when compared to the second quarter of 2025, which recorded an aggregate GDP of N100.73 trillion, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth of 18.43 per cent.
The nation in the second quarter of 2026 recorded an average daily oil production of 1.72 million barrels per day, higher than the daily average production of 1.68 million barrels per day recorded in the same quarter of 2025 by 0.05 million barrels per day and higher than the first quarter of 2026 production volume of 1.55 million barrels per day by 0.17 million barrels per day.
The real growth of the oil sector was 7.31 per cent (year-on-year) in Q2 2026, indicating a decrease of 13.15 per cent relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025 (20.46%). Growth increased by 4.74 per cent when compared with Q1 2026, which was 2.57 per cent.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 10.91 per cent in Q2 2026 but contributed 4.16 per cent to the total real GDP in Q2 2026, up from the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2025 at 4.05 per cent and up from the preceding quarter, where it contributed 3.92 per cent.
The non-oil sector grew by 4.31 per cent in real terms during the quarter under review. This rate was higher by 0.67 per cent compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2025, which was 3.64 per cent and higher than the 3.94 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2026. This sector was driven in the second quarter of 2026 mainly by Agriculture (Crop production); Information and Communication (Telecommunications); Real Estate; Trade; Financial & Insurance (Financial Institutions); Manufacturing (Cement); and Construction, accounting for positive GDP growth.
In real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 95.84 per cent to the nation’s GDP in the second quarter of 2026, lower than the share recorded in the second quarter of 2025, which was 95.95 per cent, and lower than the first quarter of 2026, recorded as 96.08 per cent.
