The Federal Government has declared that Nigeria’s economy is gaining firm momentum toward achieving a $1 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030, following a robust 4.43 percent real GDP growth recorded in the second quarter of 2026.

In an official statement issued on Tuesday by the Federal Ministry of Finance, following the latest data release from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the government highlighted that the Q2 2026 expansion outperforms the 4.23 percent recorded in Q2 2025 and the 3.89 percent logged in Q1 2026.

The positive performance pushed real GDP growth for the first half of 2026 (H1) to 4.16 percent, up from 3.68 percent in H1 2025.

Finance Ministry officials emphasized that the recovery is becoming increasingly broad-based across productive sectors, with 27 economic subsectors recording real growth above 3.0 percent in Q2 2026, compared to 23 subsectors during the same period last year.

"Growth is also becoming more broad-based... showing that expansion is no longer concentrated in a handful of industries," the Ministry stated, adding that a steady 12 percent appreciation of the naira between H1 2025 and H1 2026 expanded the national economy by approximately 17 percent in US dollar terms.

Key macroeconomic contributors during the quarter included:

Services Sector: Remained the dominant growth driver, expanding by 4.60 percent (up from 3.94 percent in Q2 2025) and contributing 56.62 percent to total real GDP.

Agriculture: Rebounded to 4.39 percent growth (up from 2.82 percent in Q2 2025), contributing 26.15 percent to real GDP.

Manufacturing: More than doubled its performance year-on-year, growing by 3.24 percent compared to 1.60 percent in Q2 2025.

Oil & Gas Sector: Expanded by 7.31 percent, bolstered by an increase in average crude oil production to 1.72 million barrels per day (mbpd), up from 1.55 mbpd in the first quarter.

Non-Oil Sector: Maintained structural dominance, growing by 4.31 percent and accounting for 95.84 percent of total real GDP.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently listed Nigeria among the top 10 global contributors to real GDP growth in 2026, projecting the nation to account for roughly 1.5 percent of global economic expansion this year.

The Federal Government estimates that sustained macroeconomic stability could see Nigeria reclaim its position as Africa's largest economy by 2028.

Despite the headline acceleration—representing the strongest single-quarter expansion since Q3 2024—the recovery shows internal pressures. Overall industrial growth slowed to 3.96 percent (down from 7.46 percent in Q2 2025), alongside a sharp 10.63 percent contraction in electricity, gas, steam, and air-conditioning supply.

The country's economic trajectory shows steady year-on-year movement; real GDP grew by 3.87 percent across 2025, improving on the 3.38 percent recorded in 2024.

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