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Nigeria’s GDP growth rate drops to 3.9%, amid oil, non-oil sectors’ slump
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate in real terms declined to 3.89 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) in the first quarter Q1, 2026 from the 4.07 per cent figure recorded in Q4, 2025.
NBS, which disclosed this, weekend, in its GDP report for January 2026, noted that in the quarter under review, the services sector contributed more to the aggregate GDP at 57.73 percent.
“Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.89 percent (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2026, higher than the 3.13 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2025.”
The bureau stated that the real growth of the oil sector was 2.57 percent in Q1, 2026, representing a 4.22 percentage point decline from 6.79 percent in the previous quarter.
The decline in growth of the oil sector was as a result of the country recording an average 1.55 million barrels per day (mbpd) in crude oil production which was lower than the daily average of 1.62 mbpd recorded in the same quarter of 2025 by 0.06 mbpd and lower than the fourth quarter of 2025 production volume of 1.58 mbpd by 0.03 mbpd.
“The Oil sector contributed 3.92 percent to the total real GDP in Q1, 2026 down from the figure recorded in the corresponding period of 2025 at 3.97 percent, and up from the preceding quarter, where it contributed 2.87 percent,” NBS added.
According to the NBS report, Nigeria’s non-oil sector recorded a decline in growth rate during the review period.
“The non-oil sector grew by 3.94 percent in real terms during the reference quarter (Q1, 2026). This rate was lower than the 3.99 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.
“This sector was driven in the first quarter of 2026 mainly by Information and Communication (Telecommunications); Agriculture (Crop production); Trade; Manufacturing (Cement); Financial & Insurance (Financial Institutions); Real Estate; Construction; and Transportation and Storage (Road Transport), accounting for positive GDP growth.
“In real terms, the non-oil sector contributed 96.08 per cent to the nation’s GDP in the first quarter of 2026, higher than the share recorded in the first quarter of 2025, which was 96.03 per cent, and lower than the fourth quarter of 2025, recorded as 97.13 percent,” the report concluded.
