By Nchetachi Chukwuajah
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 3.98 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, a slight improvement from the 3.86 per cent recorded in the same period of 2024.
This is according to the latest GDP report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, December 1.
The Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, said the quarterly estimates are benchmarked to the rebased national accounts to ensure consistency, adding that the Q3 results reflect continued improvements in data quality and sectoral coverage.
The report read: “Gross Domestic Product grew by 3.98 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the third quarter of 2025. This growth rate is higher than the 3.86 per cent recorded in the third quarter of 2024.”
The report also showed a mixed recovery across key sectors, with agriculture and industry posting stronger real growth while services maintained their dominance in overall output.
According to the report, the services sector contributed the largest share at 53.02 per cent, followed by agriculture at 31.21 per cent.
The NBS noted that the economy had sustained moderate expansion despite lingering constraints, highlighting stronger activities in crop production, telecommunications, real estate, trade, and financial services.
Aggregate GDP in real terms rose to N57.03 trillion in Q3 2025 from the N54.85 trillion recorded in Q3 2024.
On a year-on-year basis, output rose by 18.12 per cent in nominal terms to N113.59 trillion from N96.16 trillion in the corresponding quarter of 2024.
The report, covering all 46 economic activities classified into oil and non-oil sectors, showed that the oil sector recorded a real growth rate of 5.84 per cent from 5.66 per cent in Q3 2024.
It stated that average crude oil production increased to 1.64 million barrels per day from 1.47 million barrels per day in Q3 2024, but fell short of the 1.68 million barrels per day recorded in Q2 2025.
On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the oil sector shrank by 5.53 per cent, while its contribution to real GDP increased marginally to 3.44 per cent from 3.38 per cent in Q3 2024.
The non-oil sector, on the other hand, expanded by 3.91 per cent, outperforming the 3.79 per cent recorded in Q3 2024 and the 3.64 per cent it posted in Q2 2025.
The report noted that agriculture grew by 3.79 per cent, up from the 2.55 per cent recorded in Q3 2025, with the sector contributing 31.21 per cent to real GDP in the period.
It also showed that the manufacturing sector’s growth declined slightly to 1.25 per cent in real terms from 1.74 per cent in Q2 2025.
The sector’s share of real GDP decreased to 7.62 per cent compared to the 7.82 per cent it posted in Q3 2024.
Nominal growth in the sector fell sharply to 3.45 per cent from the 13.83 per cent recorded a year earlier.
The construction sector increased by 5.57 per cent in real terms, a decline from the 6.80 per cent recorded in 2024. The sector’s contribution to the economy increased to 3.80 per cent.
The trade sector saw a real growth rate of 1.98 per cent, a slight improvement from the 1.69 per cent posted in Q3 2024, and accounted for 16.42 per cent of total output.
Information and communication services continued to outperform most major activities, with telecommunications and information services driving the real growth rate of 5.78 per cent for the broader ICT sector.
Despite a quarterly decline, ICT contributed 9.10 per cent to real GDP, up from 8.95 per cent in Q3 2024.
The nominal output of the real estate sector grew by 89.34 per cent year-on-year, but real growth stood at 3.50 per cent.
