Nigeria’s economy expanded by 3.13% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, according to new data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The growth marks a steady rebound from the 2.27% growth recorded in the same period last year and comes on the back of a comprehensive rebasing of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
The GDP rebasing, which updated the base year from 2010 to 2019, aims to better reflect the current structure of Nigeria’s economy. The new calculation includes previously underrepresented sectors such as e-commerce, digital services, arts, marine, and tourism.
The NBS, in its Q1 2025 GDP report, said the economic performance in the quarter was driven mainly by the services and industry sectors.
The report read, “Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.13 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2025. This growth rate is higher than the 2.27 per cent recorded in the first quarter of 2024.”
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“Following the rebasing exercise, Nigeria’s nominal GDP for Q1 2025 now stands at ₦372.82 trillion (approximately $243.7 billion),” the NBS said in its quarterly report.
Despite the improvement, the 3.13% growth rate fell short of market expectations. Analysts had projected growth closer to 4.9%, buoyed by improvements in oil production and service sector performance.
Sectoral Breakdown
The services sector led the economy with a 4.33% growth rate, contributing over 57% to the total GDP.
The industrial sector grew by 3.42%, while the agriculture sector saw minimal growth of just 0.07%, recovering from a negative performance in Q1 2024.
The oil sector recorded 1.87% growth, with average daily crude oil production rising to 1.6 million barrels per day, up from 1.57 million barrels in the same quarter of 2024.
According to the NBS, non-oil sectors accounted for 96.03% of the GDP, highlighting the ongoing diversification efforts of the federal government.