By Ayomide Otitoju
Nigeria’s economy recorded a real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 3.89% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), marking an improvement from the 3.13% recorded in the same period of 2025.
The report showed that agriculture was the strongest performer, growing by 3.15% in Q1 2026, a sharp recovery from 0.07% in Q1 2025. The industry sector grew by 3.50%, up slightly from 3.42% in the corresponding period of 2025, while the services sector expanded by 4.31%, marginally lower than 4.33% recorded a year earlier.
The services sector remained the largest contributor to GDP, accounting for 57.73%, compared to 57.50% in Q1 2025. Overall nominal GDP stood at N110.79 trillion, representing a 17.79% year-on-year increase from N94.05 trillion in Q1 2025.
Average daily crude oil production stood at 1.55 million barrels per day, lower than 1.62 million barrels per day in Q1 2025 and 1.58 million barrels per day in Q4 2025.
The oil sector recorded real growth of 2.57%, higher than 1.87% in Q1 2025 but below 6.79% in Q4 2025, while its contribution to GDP fell slightly to 3.92%.
The non-oil sector grew by 3.94%, driven by telecommunications, crop production, trade, manufacturing, financial services, real estate, construction, and transport. It contributed 96.08% to GDP, slightly higher than 96.03% in Q1 2025.
Mining and quarrying grew nominally by 13.92%, with crude petroleum and natural gas accounting for the largest share. The sector contributed 4.23% to GDP, lower than 4.38% in Q1 2025 but higher than 2.15% in Q4 2025.
Overall, the data reflects steady economic expansion driven largely by the non-oil sector despite fluctuations in crude oil output and performance.
