Nigeria’s economy sustained its growth momentum in the fourth quarter of 2025, with the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanding by 4.07% year-on-year up from the 3.76% recorded in the corresponding quarter of year 2024, driven largely by improved performance of the services sector and improved oil production.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its published ‘Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Q4, 2025’ report released on Friday, indicated that in the quarter under review, agriculture recorded stronger growth from 2.54% in Q4 2024 to 4.00%, supported by improved output across key segments.
According to the GDP report data, Industrial activities also gained momentum, reflecting improved performance across manufacturing and related sub-sectors, while services remained the largest driver of economic expansion.
Specifically, the Bureau reported that “the growth of the industry sector stood at 3.88% from 2.49% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024, while the services sector recorded a growth of 4.15% from 4.75% in the same quarter of 2024.”
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Also, the Services sector continued to dominate overall output, accounting for more than half of aggregate GDP with the sector’s share marginally rising to 55.92% in Q4 2025, compared with 55.87% in the corresponding quarter of 2024.
The statistics agency further reported that on an annual basis, the growth rate in 2025 stood at 3.87% from 3.38% in 2024..
The report reflected that in nominal terms, the size of the economy also expanded as the aggregate GDP stood at N122.81 trillion in Q4 2025, compared with N104.47 trillion in the same period of 2024, representing a year-on-year nominal growth of 17.55%.
It also showed that Oil sector performance improved in the quarter under review, aided by higher crude production, although output remained below the previous quarter’s level.
The Oil sector data indicated that the average daily oil production stood at 1.58 million barrels per day in Q4 2025, above the 1.54 mbpd recorded a year earlier but lower than the 1.64 mbpd output in Q3 2025.
On the improvement in oil sector performance year-on-year, the Bureau reported: “The real growth of the oil sector was 6.79% (year-on-year) in Q4 2025, indicating an increase of 4.71 percentage points relative to the rate recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2024 (2.08%).
“Growth increased by 0.95 percentage points when compared to Q3 2025, which was 5.84%. On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector recorded a growth rate of -6.30% in Q4 2025”, it added.
Despite the volatility in the global oil market, the Bureau disclosed that Nigeria oil sector output improved in 2025 as the annual growth rate of oil stood at 8.50%, higher than the 5.54% recorded in 2024.
It reported that the Oil sector contributed 2.87 per cent to total real GDP in Q4 2025, slightly higher than its contribution to the GDP in 2024 but lower than the 3.44 % it contributed in the preceding quarter, adding that “overall, it contributed 3.53% in 2025, higher than its contribution of 3.38% in 2024.”
As has been the trend for many quarters, the statistics agency reported that the non-oil sector remained the backbone of the economy, accounting for the largest share of output and growth at 3.99% in Q4 2025 and contributed 97.17% to the GDP.
The NBS clarified: “This rate was higher by 0.19 percentage 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.”
A further analysis of the report showed that in real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 97.13% to GDP in the quarter under review, marginally lower than the share recorded a year earlier but higher than the contribution in Q3 2025. On an annual basis, the sector accounted for 96.47 per cent of GDP in 2025, slightly below the 96.62 per cent recorded in 2024.
The statistics agency attributed the non-oil growth in Q4 2025 mainly to agriculture, particularly crop production, as well as information and communication services, real estate, trade, financial and insurance services, construction, transportation and storage, and manufacturing, notably food, beverages and tobacco.
