By Sabiu Abdullahi
Nigeria’s economy expanded by 4.07 percent in real terms during the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This represents an increase from the 3.76 percent growth recorded in the same period of 2024.
“During the quarter under review, agriculture grew by 4.00%, an improvement from the 2.54% recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2024,” the NBS stated.
The report highlighted that the industrial sector also saw growth, rising to 3.88 percent from 2.49 percent in Q4 2024. The services sector, which contributes the largest share to the GDP, grew by 4.15 percent, slightly lower than the 4.75 percent recorded in the same quarter the previous year.
In terms of sector contribution to GDP, services led with 55.92 percent, compared with 55.87 percent in Q4 2024. On an annual basis, overall economic growth reached 3.87 percent in 2025, up from 3.38 percent in 2024.
The NBS also reported that nominal GDP in the quarter stood at N122.81 trillion, showing a year-on-year increase from N104.47 trillion in Q4 2024, reflecting a 17.55 percent growth.
Oil production and sector performance
The bureau disclosed that average daily oil production in Q4 2025 was 1.58 million barrels per day, slightly higher than 1.54 mbpd in Q4 2024, but lower than 1.64 mbpd in Q3 2025.
“The real growth of the oil sector was 6.79 (year-on-year) in Q4 2025, indicating an increase of 4.71 points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2024 (2.08%),” the report said.
Compared to Q3 2025, the oil sector grew by 0.95 percentage points. However, the quarter-on-quarter performance showed a decline of 6.30 percent. The annual growth of oil rose to 8.50 percent, up from 5.54 percent in 2024.
The sector contributed 2.87 percent to real GDP in Q4 2025, an increase from 2.80 percent in Q4 2024, but a decrease from 3.44 percent in Q3 2025. Overall, the oil sector accounted for 3.53 percent of GDP in 2025, above the 3.38 percent reported in 2024.
Non-oil sector drives growth
The non-oil sector remained the major driver of economic growth, contributing 97.17 percent in Q4 2025.
“This rate was higher by 0.19 points compared to the rate recorded in the same quarter of 2024, which was 3.80%, and higher than the 3.91% recorded in the third quarter of 2025,” the NBS said.
In real terms, the non-oil sector accounted for 97.13 percent of GDP in Q4 2025, slightly lower than 97.20 percent in Q4 2024, but higher than 96.56 percent in Q3 2025. On an annual basis, the sector contributed 96.47 percent in 2025, slightly down from 96.62 percent in 2024.
The NBS identified agriculture (crop production), telecommunications, real estate, trade, financial and insurance services, construction, transportation, and manufacturing (food, beverages, and tobacco) as the key contributors to positive non-oil GDP growth.
