Nigeria’s economy expanded by 3.89 per cent in real terms in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting stronger economic activity compared to the same period last year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
The latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released by the bureau shows that the growth rate was higher than the 3.13 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2025.
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The figures also indicate that the services sector remained the backbone of the economy during the period under review, contributing the largest share to overall GDP.
In nominal terms, the economy was valued at ₦110.79 trillion in Q1 2026, while real GDP stood at ₦51.26 trillion.
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Services sector leads growth
According to the NBS data, the services sector accounted for 57.73 per cent of total real GDP, maintaining its position as the largest contributor to economic output.
The industry sector contributed 19.11 per cent, while agriculture accounted for 23.16 per cent of the economy during the quarter.
The strong contribution of services highlights the continued importance of sectors such as telecommunications, finance, trade and other business-related activities in sustaining economic growth.
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Non-oil economy remains dominant
The report also shows that the non-oil sector continued to dominate Nigeria’s economy.
Non-oil activities contributed 96.08 per cent to GDP in Q1 2026, while the oil sector accounted for 3.92 per cent.
This reflects Nigeria’s continued reliance on non-oil sectors for economic expansion despite the importance of crude oil to government revenue and foreign exchange earnings.
Average crude oil production stood at 1.55 million barrels per day in the first quarter of 2026.
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This was slightly lower than the 1.58 million barrels per day recorded in Q4 2025 and below the 1.62 million barrels per day posted in Q1 2025.
Despite the dip in oil production, the economy still recorded positive growth, supported largely by activities outside the oil sector.
A review of recent quarterly data shows that Nigeria’s economy has maintained relatively steady growth over the past two years.
After growing by 3.48 per cent in Q2 2024, the economy expanded by 3.86 per cent in Q3 2024 and 3.76 per cent in Q4 2024.
Growth slowed to 3.13 per cent in Q1 2025 before rising to 4.23 per cent in Q2 2025. The economy later recorded 3.98 per cent growth in Q3 2025 and 4.07 per cent in Q4 2025.
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