The Nigerian economy grew at its quickest pace in a decade, buoyed by booming services, agriculture, and industry sectors, according to a new report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS report revealed that Africa’s most populous economy grew by 3.89 percent in the first quarter of 2026, representing a sharp increase from the 3.13 percent growth recorded in the first quarter of 2025.
The new data, which was released on Monday, showed that during the quarter under review, agriculture grew by 3.15 percent, an improvement from the 0.07 percent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
The growth of the industry sector stood at 3.50 percent from 3.42 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2025, while the services sector recorded a growth of 4.31 percent from 4.33 percent in the same quarter of 2025.
Africa’s biggest oil producer has seen a consistent growth in its now-stabilising economy after a series of resets by President Bola Tinubu, with the World Bank projecting that growth could hit 4.1 percent in 2026, up from 3.87 percent last year.
But on the streets, weakening purchasing power occasioned by rising inflationary pressures meant government policies, including devaluing the currency and removing fuel subsidies, amount to little or no inclusive growth.
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In terms of share of the GDP, the services sector contributed more to the aggregate GDP in the first quarter of 2026 at 57.73 percent compared to the corresponding quarter of 2025 at 57.50 percent.
In the quarter under review, aggregate GDP at basic price stood at N110,786,347.01 million in nominal terms. This performance is higher when compared to the first quarter of 2025, which recorded an aggregate GDP of N94,051,733.20 million, indicating a year-on-year nominal growth of 17.79 percent.
The real growth of the oil sector was 2.57 percent (year-on-year) in Q1 2026, up 0.70 percentage points from the corresponding quarter of 2025 (1.87 percent).
“Growth decreased by 4.22 percentage points when compared to Q4 2025, which was 6.79 percent. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of 9.31 percent in Q1 2026.
“The Oil sector contributed 3.92 percent to the total real GDP in Q1 2026, down from the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2025 at 3.97 percent and up from the preceding quarter, where it contributed 2.87 percent.”
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Also, the non-oil sector grew by 3.94 percent in real terms during the reference quarter (Q1 2026). This rate was 0.75 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2025 (3.19 percent) and 0.04 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025 (3.99 percent).
“This sector was driven in the first quarter of 2026 mainly by Information and Communication (Telecommunications); Agriculture (Crop production); Trade; Manufacturing (Cement); Financial & Insurance (Financial Institutions); Real Estate; Construction; and Transportation and Storage (Road Transport), accounting for positive GDP growth.
“In real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 96.08 percent to the nation’s GDP in the first quarter of 2026, higher than the share recorded in the first quarter of 2025, which was 96.03 percent, and lower than the fourth quarter of 2025, recorded as 97.13 percent,” the report stated.