Nigeria’s economy grew by 4.07 per cent year-on-year in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting improved economic performance compared with the 3.76 per cent growth recorded in the corresponding period of 2024, according to the Q4 2025 Gross Domestic Product report.
The report released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Friday indicated that the expansion was supported by growth across the three major sectors of the economy, agriculture, industry and services with the services sector retaining its position as the largest contributor to overall output.
Agriculture recorded growth of 4.00 per cent, improving from 2.54 per cent in Q4 2024, while the industry sector expanded by 3.88 per cent, up from 2.49 per cent in the comparable period. The services sector grew by 4.15 per cent, though slightly below the 4.75 per cent posted a year earlier.
In terms of sectoral contribution, services accounted for 55.92 per cent of aggregate GDP, marginally higher than their 55.87 per cent share in the fourth quarter of 2024, reinforcing their dominance in Nigeria’s economic structure.
On a full-year basis, the economy recorded 3.87 per cent growth in 2025, representing an improvement over the 3.38 per cent growth achieved in 2024.
The growth trumped the projection of the International Monetary Fund which anticipated that Nigeria’s real gross domestic product would grow by 3.4 per cent in 2025 in its July 2025 World Economic Outlook report.
According to the NBS report, nominal GDP also rose significantly during the period under review, with output valued at N122.81tn, compared with N104.48tn recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024, translating to 17.55 per cent year-on-year nominal growth.
The report further identified the leading contributors to real GDP in the quarter, with crop production accounting for 20.44 per cent, followed by trade (16.84 per cent), real estate (14.57 per cent) and telecommunications and information services (8.12 per cent).
Within the oil sector, average daily crude oil production stood at 1.58 million barrels per day, higher than the 1.54 million barrels per day recorded in Q4 2024 but lower than the 1.64 million barrels per day achieved in the preceding quarter.
Overall, the report indicated that Nigeria’s economic performance in the fourth quarter of 2025 reflected broad-based sectoral growth, rising nominal output and continued structural reliance on services as the primary engine of expansion.
Analysing the report, the experts at Analysts Data Services and Report said
“Sectors with high contribution to GDP in 2025 include: Agriculture (27.55 per cent), Trade (17.37 per cent), Real estate (13.57 per cent), ICT (10.07 per cent) and manufacturing (8.05 per cent).
resulting in a full-year growth rate of 3.87 per cent, in 2025 compared to 3.38 per cent recorded in 2024.
*Manufacturing, real estate, admin support, education, and health declined, whereas trade, public administration, and professional services saw slow growth.
GDP growth increased by 0.09 per cent from 3.98 per cent in Q3’2025 to 4.07 per cent in Q4’2025 driven majorly by the transport & storage sector.
The transport sector, together with
financial and insurance have emerged as a significant driver of growth in recent times when compared to other sectors.”
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