Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.13 per cent in real terms year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting a resilient upturn in the economy.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which released the data on Monday, said the figure marked an improvement on the 2.27 per cent growth recorded in the same period of 2024.
According to the bureau, the services sector was the main driver of growth, expanding by 4.33 per cent and accounting for 57.5 per cent of total GDP. The revised data also put Nigeria’s nominal GDP at N94.05 trillion for Q1 2025, providing a more accurate representation of the current economic structure.
The agricultural sector registered a marginal growth of 0.07 per cent, while the industries sector rose by 3.42 per cent during the quarter. The NBS noted that this performance underlined sustained economic activity in the face of ongoing macroeconomic pressures.
The release has lifted optimism about Nigeria’s economic prospects. International institutions share this outlook, with the World Bank projecting GDP growth of 3.6 per cent in 2025 and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasting 3.4 per cent.
Some forecasts even see growth approaching 4 per cent for the year, driven largely by the expanding services sector and stronger industrial commodity exports.
