Nigeria’s economy grew by 3.98 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2025 (Q3’25), according to the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The growth rate represents a slight decline from the 4.23 percent recorded in the second quarter of 2025, reflecting continuing fluctuations in economic performance over the past year.
Despite this quarter-on-quarter slowdown, the Q3’25 growth figure remains higher than the 3.86 percent recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
The NBS report also shows that economic growth has remained unstable over the past five quarters.
After rising to 3.86 percent in the third quarter of 2024, GDP growth slipped to 3.76 percent in the fourth quarter of the same year and further declined to 3.13 percent in the first quarter of 2025 before bouncing back in Q2’25.
In sectoral terms, agriculture recorded a growth rate of 3.79 percent in Q3’25, an increase from the 2.55 percent achieved in the same quarter of 2024.
The industrial sector also improved, expanding by 3.77 percent compared to 2.78 percent in Q3’24.
The services sector continued to dominate economic activity with a growth rate of 4.15 percent, although this was slightly lower than the 4.97 percent recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
Overall, the services sector contributed 53.02 percent to total GDP in Q3’25, marginally higher than the 52.93 percent recorded a year earlier.
The oil sector experienced mixed outcomes during the quarter.
Average daily crude oil production rose to 1.64 million barrels per day (mbpd), higher than the 1.47 mbpd recorded in Q3’24 but slightly below the 1.68 mbpd produced in Q2’25.
Real growth in the sector stood at 5.84 percent year-on-year, showing a modest increase from 5.66 percent in the same quarter of 2024.
However, this represented a significant drop from the 20.46 percent recorded in Q2’25, as quarter-on-quarter growth fell to -5.53 percent.
The sector’s contribution to total real GDP was 3.44 percent, slightly above the 3.38 percent recorded in Q3’24 but down from 4.05 percent in Q2’25.
The non-oil sector also maintained its strong performance, expanding by 3.91 percent in real terms during the third quarter of 2025.
The growth was driven largely by steady improvements across services, agriculture, and industrial activities, underscoring the continuing importance of non-oil sectors to Nigeria’s economic stability and long-term growth outlook.
