Nigeria’s economy has received a statistical boost following a rebasing exercise by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), but the revision has not been enough to restore its position as Africa’s largest economy.
The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at current market prices reached ₦372.8 trillion (approximately $243 billion) in 2024, up from ₦314 trillion in 2023.
The rebase, which adopted 2019 as the new reference year, incorporated more informal sectors into the GDP framework, offering a broader reflection of economic activity.
The revised figures showed Nigeria’s economy grew by 3.13% year-on-year in real terms in the first quarter of 2025—up from 2.27% in Q1 of the previous year.
Growth was largely driven by the services sector, which expanded by 4.33% and contributed 57.15% to the overall GDP.
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“The performance of the GDP in Q1 2025 was driven mainly by the service sector,” said NBS Statistician-General Adeyemi Adeniran.
Agriculture, despite being a major employer, saw minimal recovery, recording a marginal growth of 0.07% in Q1 2025—up from a -1.79% contraction in the same period in 2024.
Despite these gains, Nigeria now ranks as the fourth-largest economy on the continent, behind South Africa ($410.3 billion), Egypt ($347.3 billion), and Algeria ($268.9 billion), according to current estimates.
The country continues to battle persistent economic headwinds, including soaring inflation and a weakened currency which have strained household incomes and dampened investor confidence.
Since taking office, President Bola Tinubu has introduced sweeping reforms such as floating the naira, scrapping long-standing fuel subsidies, and addressing forex shortages in a bid to stabilize the economy.
While the rebasing paints a more comprehensive picture of Nigeria’s economic size, it also underscores the challenges still facing the country in its quest to reclaim economic leadership on the continent.
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