Nigeria’s manufacturing sector expanded by 3.24 percent in real terms in the second quarter (Q2) of 2026 as strong growth in cement production and oil refining outweighed contractions in textiles and vehicle assembly.
The latest National Bureau of Statistics GDP data showed that manufacturing growth more than doubled from the 1.60 percent recorded in Q2 2025, although it was marginally below the 3.29 percent growth recorded in Q1 2026.
The performance came as Nigeria’s broader economy expanded by 4.43 percent year-on-year in Q2, up from 4.23 percent in the corresponding period of 2025.
Manufacturing, however, continued to grow more slowly than the overall economy, resulting in a slight reduction in its contribution to national output.
The sector accounted for 7.72 percent of real GDP in Q2 2026, compared with 7.81 percent in the same quarter of 2025. Its share was also below the 9.57 percent recorded in Q1 2026.
Cement, Refining Lead Manufacturing Growth
The headline manufacturing number concealed significant differences among the 13 activities captured under the sector.
Oil refining recorded the fastest real growth, expanding 43.94 percent year-on-year in Q2 2026. This followed growth of 37.46 percent in the first quarter and 15.78 percent in Q2 2025.
Despite the rapid percentage increase, refining remained a relatively small component of measured manufacturing output.
Real output from oil refining increased to approximately N3.23 billion from N2.25 billion a year earlier, meaning the subsector added less than N1 billion in inflation-adjusted output during the period.
Cement presented a substantially larger source of manufacturing growth.
The cement industry expanded by 12.75 percent in real terms, accelerating from 4.86 percent in Q2 2025 and maintaining the double-digit growth recorded in the first quarter of this year.
At constant 2019 prices, cement output increased from about N508.85 billion in Q2 2025 to N573.70 billion in Q2 2026.
That represents an increase of approximately N64.86 billion in real output within one year.
The performance also coincided with stronger activity in construction, which grew 6.75 percent during the quarter compared with 5.27 percent a year earlier.
The NBS specifically identified cement manufacturing among the activities supporting Nigeria’s non-oil economic expansion during the quarter.
Pharmaceuticals Expand 7.70%
Chemical and pharmaceutical products were another relatively strong manufacturing segment, recording real growth of 7.70 percent in Q2 2026.
Wood and wood products grew 3.33 percent, while food, beverage and tobacco production increased 2.79 percent.
Pulp, paper and paper products expanded 2.40 percent, non-metallic products grew 2.17 percent, and basic metal, iron and steel production increased 1.76 percent.
Growth was weaker in several other manufacturing activities.
Plastic and rubber products expanded 1.52 percent, electrical and electronics grew 1.51 percent, while other manufacturing increased 1.27 percent.
Textile Industry Remains in Contraction
Textile, apparel and footwear remained one of the weakest parts of the manufacturing economy, contracting by 1.23 percent in real terms during the quarter.
Real textile output declined to approximately N947.45 billion from N959.29 billion in Q2 2025, representing a loss of about N11.84 billion in inflation-adjusted output.
The latest decline extended the industry’s contraction across the quarterly series presented in the NBS report, following declines of 1.63 percent, 1.32 percent, 2.41 percent and 2.68 percent across the four quarters of 2025 and another 1.22 percent contraction in Q1 2026.
Motor vehicles and assembly was the other manufacturing activity that contracted during Q2, declining 1.02 percent year-on-year.
Its real output slipped to about N29.70 billion from N30.01 billion a year earlier.
The performance means that 11 of the 13 manufacturing activities recorded positive real growth in Q2 2026, while textiles and vehicle assembly remained in contraction.
Manufacturing Recovery Remains Uneven
The manufacturing figures show an industry expanding overall but with growth concentrated unevenly across its component activities.
Cement alone added about N64.9 billion in real output compared with a year earlier, while textile production lost N11.8 billion. Oil refining posted the highest percentage growth but remained small in absolute GDP terms.
The contrast is important because the 3.24 percent headline manufacturing growth rate does not imply that every segment of Nigerian industry expanded during the quarter.
It also comes against a broader industrial sector that grew 3.96 percent in Q2 2026, significantly below the 7.46 percent expansion recorded a year earlier. Industry accounted for 17.23 percent of real GDP.
At the national level, services grew 4.60 percent and agriculture expanded 4.39 percent, meaning manufacturing growth remained below both major segments as well as the economy-wide growth rate of 4.43 percent.
The NBS report does not establish the specific company-level or policy factors responsible for the performance of individual manufacturing subsectors. What the data show is that Nigeria’s manufacturing economy strengthened from its year-earlier growth rate, supported particularly by cement and rapid percentage growth in refining, while persistent weakness in textiles and vehicle assembly continued to weigh on the sector.