The Nigerian stock market wrapped up the 2025 trading year firmly in positive territory, delivering a 51.19% full-year return, its strongest performance in 18 years.
Tracked by the All-Share Index, the market rose 0.37% on the final trading day, bringing December’s month-to-date gain to 8.43% and pushing market capitalization to N99.3 trillion.
This momentum translated into a quarterly return of 9.04% and capped an impressive second-half performance of 29.70%.
July stood out as the best-performing month, climbing 16.57%.
Only a few years compared with this outcome—2020 recorded 50.03%, 2013 returned 47.19%, 2023 delivered 45.90%, and 2017 posted 42.30%.
Overall, the market’s strong 2025 performance was driven by broad-based sectoral contributions and standout stocks across the Nigerian Exchange.
The NGX consumer goods sector emerged as the star performer of 2025, posting a remarkable return of 129.57% to lead sectoral performance.
The rally was likely driven by improving company financials, stronger profitability, and a significant reduction in foreign-exchange–related losses as market sentiment turned positive.
Several stocks delivered outsized gains.
Returns of over 200% were recorded in Guinness (+398.08%), Vitafoam (+300.00%), Champion Breweries (+267.45%), Honeywell Flour Mills (+247.62%), and NASCON Allied Industries (+242.90%).
Gains in the 100%–200% range were seen in Cadbury Nigeria (+178.60%), International Breweries (+152.25%), Nigerian Breweries (+135.31%), Nestlé Nigeria (+123.77%), Unilever Nigeria (+118.51%), and McNichols (+103.11%).
Other notable performers, though with sub-100% returns, included BUA Foods (+92.51%), Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (+92.03%), Dangote Sugar (+84.62%), and PZ Cussons Nigeria (+82.51%).
The NGX Insurance sector ranked among the top performers in 2025, delivering a solid return of 65.64%.
Much of the rally unfolded from August, after President Tinubu signed the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA 2025), which likely boosted investor confidence across the sector.
Sovereign Trust Insurance stood out as the only insurance stock with a return above 200%, surging 241.07% during the year.
Gains in the 100%–200% range were recorded by AIICO Insurance (+165.03%) and NEM Insurance (+144.75%).
Gains in the 100%–200% range were recorded by AIICO Insurance (+165.03%) and NEM Insurance (+144.75%).
Stocks posting returns between 50% and 100% included Regency Alliance Insurance (+92.00%), Universal Insurance (+83.33%), Linkage Assurance (+81.07%), AXA Mansard (+67.07%), Cornerstone Insurance (+65.56%), and Guinea Insurance (+64.20%).
Meanwhile, sub-50% returns were seen in Coronation Insurance (+44.44%), Prestige Assurance (+30.58%), Consolidated Hallmark (+25.80%), and Veritas Kapital Assurance (+25.74%).
The NGX Industrial Goods sector ranked as the third-best performing sector in 2025, advancing by 58.91%, with broad-based strength across constituent stocks.
Beta Glass led the pack with an exceptional return of 470.11%.
Gains in the 100%–200% range were recorded by Berger Paints (+140.00%), Austin Laz (+133.52%), and Triple Gee (+115.61%).
Other notable performers posted sub-100% gains, including Lafarge Africa (+92.28%), BUA Cement (+91.94%), Chemical & Allied Products (+81.58%), Meyer (+53.62%), Cutix (+34.78%), and Dangote Cement (+27.19%).
The NGX Banking Index delivered a 39.77% return in 2025, ranking as the fourth-best performing sector.
The gains came despite bearish sentiment in late June 2025, when the CBN’s forbearance directive forced exposed banks to suspend dividends, executive bonuses, and certain investments.
Wema Bank was the standout performer, recording a return of 128.75%.
Returns between 50% and 100% were posted by Stanbic IBTC (+73.61%), First HoldCo (+70.77%), and GTCO (+59.12%).
Banks with sub-50% gains included Ecobank Transnational (+49.64%), Zenith Bank (+35.82%), FCMB Group (+28.19%), UBA (+22.59%), and Fidelity Bank (+8.57%).
The NGX Oil and Gas Index was the only sector to close 2025 in negative territory, down 1.54%.
This was despite gains in Eterna (+40.12%), Aradel (+12.04%), and Seplat Energy (+1.91%).
In contrast, Oando, Conoil, and TotalEnergies ended the year in the red, dragging the sector’s overall performance lower.