Nigeria’s GDP Grows at Fastest Pace in 10 Years, Hits 3.89% in Q1 2026
By Aboki Forex —
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria’s economy grew at its quickest pace in a decade during the first quarter of 2026. Real GDP rose by 3.89% year-on-year, up from 3.13% in Q1 2025.
According to the NBS Quarterly Gross Domestic Product report released on Monday, May 25, 2026, the expansion was driven by agriculture, industry, and services. The services sector remained the largest contributor to GDP, accounting for 57.73% of total output.
Agriculture grew by 3.15% in Q1 2026, a sharp jump from 0.07% in the same period last year. The industry sector expanded by 3.50%, compared to 3.42% in Q1 2025. The services sector grew by 4.31%, slightly down from 4.33% a year earlier.
Oil production fell to 1.55 million barrels per day (mbpd) in Q1 2026, below the 1.62 mbpd recorded in Q1 2025 and the 1.58 mbpd in Q4 2025. Despite lower output, the oil sector’s real GDP grew by 2.57% year-on-year, though this was slower than the 6.79% growth seen in Q4 2025. The oil sector contributed 3.92% to total real GDP, down from 3.97% in the prior year.
The non-oil sector expanded by 3.94% in real terms, up from 3.19% in Q1 2025 but slightly lower than the 3.99% recorded in Q4 2025. The non-oil sector accounted for 96.08% of total GDP, driven by telecommunications, crop production, trade, cement, financial institutions, real estate, construction, and road transport.
The NBS reported that total nominal GDP at basic prices stood at N110.79 trillion in Q1 2026, compared to N94.05 trillion in Q1 2025, representing a year-on-year growth of 17.79%.
Key Sector Contributions to GDP in Q1 2026
Trade contributed 17.89%, crop production 17.38%, real estate 13.10%, telecommunications and information services 9.19%, construction 4.85%, crude petroleum and natural gas 3.92%, food, beverage and tobacco 3.48%, financial institutions 3.41%, livestock 3.08%, and professional, scientific and technical services 2.44%.