Nigeria’s economy continues to evolve, and the recently rebased GDP, now benchmarked to 2019 instead of 2010, providing a more current reflection of sector size and performance.
The new base year helps reduce overstatement in older sectors and better captures emerging industries like digital services more effectively, yet inflation still pushed the nominal size of key sectors to record highs.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in nominal terms rose to N94.05 trillion in Q1 2025, representing an 18.30% year-on-year growth from N79.51 trillion in Q1 2024.
However, on a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP declined by 9.97% from N104.47 trillion recorded in Q4 2024, tracking seasonal economic moderation and tighter monetary conditions.
In nominal terms, Real Estate emerged as the largest contributor in Q1 2025, followed by Trade, Crop Production, and Telecommunications.
Despite nominal inflation pressures and currency depreciation, key sectors such as Real Estate, Trade, Crop Production, and Telecommunications emerged as the largest contributors to GDP. Combined, the top ten sectors accounted for 75.17% of the economy.
The top ten largest sectors, including textile and fashion, financial institutions, livestock, food, beverage and tobacco, crude petroleum and natural gas, construction, telecommunications & information services, crop production, trade, and real estate, contributed 75.17% to the country’s GDP.
Rounding out the top 10 is the textile and fashion sector, with N2.45 trillion in nominal output, down from N2.65 trillion in the previous quarter.
While output fell compared to Q4, the sector gained year-on-year, thanks to sustained demand for made-in-Nigeria clothing and footwear. SME support schemes and the revival of industrial textile zones in Kaduna and Aba continued to back growth.
However, rising raw material costs and import inflation remain key challenges. There’s little indication yet of active AfCFTA-driven export scaling in Q1 2025.
Banks and other financial services contributed N2.62 trillion to the GDP in Q1 2025, marking a 2.41% increase from the N2.56 trillion recorded in Q4 2024, representing 2.79% of the total nominal GDP.
The sector’s expansion was driven by rising interest income and continued adoption of digital banking and fintech solutions. However, foreign exchange losses and tight liquidity conditions constrained overall profitability.
Notably, the Central Bank’s recapitalization directive has sparked renewed investor attention in leading Tier-1 banks.
The livestock sector recorded the sharpest decline among the top ten, plunging by 55.67% from N7.49 trillion in Q4 2024 to N3.32 trillion in Q1 2025.
Despite this significant drop, it still accounted for 3.53% of the nominal GDP, highlighting the sustained demand for meat, eggs, and dairy products in Nigeria.
The steep decline reflects seasonal slaughter patterns typically seen after festive periods. Nonetheless, the sector continues to benefit from the growth of commercial poultry farming and rising dairy consumption, though escalating feed costs remain a key challenge for producers.
The steep decline reflects seasonal slaughter patterns typically seen after festive periods. Nonetheless, the sector continues to benefit from the growth of commercial poultry farming and rising dairy consumption, though escalating feed costs remain a key challenge for producers.
Nigeria’s food, beverage, and tobacco manufacturing sector grew by 3.48% in Q1 2025, reaching a nominal value of N3.53 trillion and accounting for 3.75% of the country’s nominal GDP.
Growth in the sector remained moderate as leading beverage and food producers adjusted prices in response to inflationary pressures. Despite rising costs, consumer demand for staples such as packaged foods, snacks, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages held steady —underscoring the resilience of daily consumption habits.
To mitigate the impact of foreign exchange volatility, many manufacturers have intensified local sourcing of raw materials, helping them preserve margins and support nominal output growth.
The oil sector rebounded in Q1 2025 with an 11.8% quarter-on-quarter increase in nominal output, rising from N3.28 trillion in Q4 2024 to N3.67 trillion.
Despite this growth, the sector’s share of nominal GDP remained relatively modest at 3.90%.
Compared to Q1 2024, oil’s contribution declined, reflecting ongoing production hurdles. Persistent issues such as pipeline vandalism, underinvestment in upstream operations, and the slow rollout of reforms under the Petroleum Industry Act continue to weigh on the sector. Nonetheless, a mild recovery in global oil prices from Q4 2024 provided a slight lift to nominal earnings.
The construction sector grew by 9.93% in Q1 2025, increasing from N4.6 trillion to N5.06 trillion. It accounted for 5.38% of nominal GDP, reinforcing its role as a major employment generator.
Growth was supported by sustained investment in public infrastructure—such as roads, bridges, and housing projects—alongside private sector developments.
However, rising costs of cement and imported building materials continued to constrain broader expansion in the industry.
Nigeria’s telecommunications sector maintained stability in Q1 2025, accounted for 7.70% of the nominal GDP despite a slight 1.91% decline in nominal output to N7.24 trillion.
The sector’s resilience reflects steady growth in mobile data consumption, internet access, and digital service demand.
Progress under the National Broadband Plan has boosted rural connectivity, while increased activity in fintech and edtech continues to drive data usage. Additionally, foreign investments in data centers and cloud infrastructure have supported the sector’s nominal value.
The sector saw a sharp decline of 38.32%, dropping from N19.1 trillion in Q4 2024 to N11.78 trillion. crop production in Q1 2025, accounted for 12.53% of the nominal GDP.
Crop production continues to drive agricultural activity, though its Q1 2025 performance was weighed down by post-harvest seasonality, persistent insecurity in farming regions, high input costs, and climate-related disruptions.
Nonetheless, government intervention, including fertilizer subsidies and dry season irrigation support helped soften the impact. Additionally, elevated food prices contributed to nominal value retention despite reduced output.
Trade recorded a nominal value of N14.59 trillion in Q1 2025, marking a 27.2% decline from N20.04 trillion in the previous quarter. Despite the drop, it accounted for 15.52% of nominal GDP, retaining its position as the second-largest sector in the economy.
The sector’s pullback follows a strong performance in 2024 and reflects the impact of rising inflation, softened consumer spending, and import restrictions.
Still, ongoing FX reforms, digital upgrades in customs processes, and the resilience of informal markets and cross-border trade helped support overall activity during the period.
Real estate emerged as the top-performing sector in Q1 2025, with a nominal output of N16.42 trillion, an impressive 80.09% jump from N9.12 trillion in Q4 2024.
This surge was driven by heightened investment in housing and urban infrastructure, particularly in Lagos, Abuja, and other fast-growing city centers. The expansion of high-end residential projects and commercial developments played a significant role.
With rising demand for land, rentals, and office spaces, real estate became the largest contributor to nominal GDP, accounting for 17.46% of the total.