Nigeria’s economy grows 3.98% in Q3 2025, driven by agriculture, ICT, finance, NBS says
The economy of Nigeria expanded by 3.98% in the third quarter of 2025, slightly up from 3.86% in the same period of 2024, according to the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
The report showed mixed recovery across key sectors, with agriculture and industry posting stronger real growth, while services maintained the largest share of overall output. Aggregate GDP in real terms stood at ₦57.03 trillion, up from ₦54.85 trillion in Q3 2024. In nominal terms, output rose 18.12% year-on-year to ₦113.59 trillion, compared with ₦96.16 trillion a year earlier.
The services sector contributed 53.02% of real GDP, followed by agriculture at 31.21%. Key drivers included crop production, telecommunications, real estate, trade, and financial services.
The oil sector posted a real growth of 5.84%, slightly up from 5.66% in Q3 2024. Average crude oil production rose to 1.64 million barrels per day from 1.47 million barrels per day a year earlier, though slightly below the 1.68 million barrels per day recorded in Q2 2025. Despite a quarterly contraction of 5.53%, oil’s contribution to real GDP increased marginally to 3.44%.
Meanwhile, the non-oil sector expanded by 3.91%, outperforming Q3 2024 (3.79%) and Q2 2025 (3.64%). Agriculture grew by 3.79%, driven mainly by crop production, which accounted for nearly two-thirds of the sector’s nominal output.
Other sectoral highlights include:
Manufacturing: Real growth slowed to 1.25%, down from 1.74% in Q2 2025. Contribution to GDP fell to 7.62%.
Construction: Real growth of 5.57%, slightly below 6.80% in 2024; contribution at 3.80%.
Trade: 1.98% real growth, accounting for 16.42% of GDP.
ICT (Information and Communication): 5.78% real growth; contribution rose to 9.10%.
Real Estate: Nominal output surged 89.34%, with real growth at 3.50%.
Financial and Insurance Services: Real growth of 19.63%, though contribution to GDP fell to 2.65%; nominal growth of 40.55%.
Education and Health: Grew modestly at 2.51% and 2.89%, respectively.
The NBS noted that while most sectors sustained positive momentum, growth remains uneven. Strong gains in ICT, finance, agriculture, and trade helped stabilize overall output.
Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, Statistician-General of the Federation, emphasized that the quarterly estimates are benchmarked to the rebased national accounts for consistency, reflecting improvements in data quality and sectoral coverage.
Earlier in October 2025, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revised Nigeria’s 2025 growth outlook upward to 3.9%, citing higher oil production, stronger investor confidence, and a supportive fiscal stance as key drivers. The IMF also upgraded the 2026 projection to 4.2% and revised 2024 growth to 4.1%.
