Nigeria’s economy grew at its quickest pace in five years, with real gross domestic product expanding 4.43 percent in the second quarter of 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics reports that services, the largest part of the economy, accounted for 56.62 percent of real GDP and grew 4.60 percent in the quarter.
Agriculture, which remains one of the country’s biggest sources of livelihoods and informal employment, contributed 26.15 percent and expanded 4.39 percent, compared with 2.82 percent in the second quarter of 2025.
Industry, meanwhile, grew 3.96 percent, sharply slower than the 7.46 percent recorded a year earlier, and accounted for 17.23 percent of real GDP.
Despite the acceleration in headline growth, the composition of the expansion raises concerns about its capacity to generate jobs, as the sectors driving the recovery are not job-rich.
Shakirudeen Taiwo, chief macroeconomist at Cordros Securities Limited, said the slowdown in industry was a warning for the labour market, as “a slowing industrial quarterly performance is a warning that the job-creating engine of the economy is running below the speed of demographic demand.”
Related: Nigeria can no longer ignore tourism
Kehinde Jones, head of Research and Strategy at Anchoria Capital Group, noted that while the industrial sector remains a key source of large-scale employment, weaker growth suggests that the nation’s recovery may not yet be broad-based enough to absorb Nigeria’s growing labour force.
Damilare Asimiyu, head of research at FSDH Group, argued that manufacturing, a labour-intensive sector, needs to grow at least 9 percent to improve job creation, but the sector moderated to 3.24 percent year-on-year, driven largely by capital-intensive activities.
Services are now by far the largest component of Nigeria’s economy, making their performance critical to the employment outlook, but the sector’s expansion does not necessarily mean a corresponding increase in high-quality employment.
Agriculture’s nearly doubling growth provides another important source of expansion, but stronger agricultural output does not necessarily mean a corresponding increase in high-quality employment, as farmers continue to face insecurity, high input costs, climate pressures and inadequate infrastructure.
Oil accounted for only 4.16 percent of real GDP in the second quarter, up marginally from 4.05 percent a year earlier and 3.92 percent in the first quarter, highlighting that oil can provide a significant boost to growth when production rises, but its relatively small share of GDP and limited direct employment capacity mean it cannot by itself solve the country’s jobs challenge.
Nigeria’s economic growth is closely tied to its ability to create jobs and improve living standards, and the current recovery’s job creation potential will depend on the government’s ability to implement policies that support labour-intensive sectors and improve productivity, such as setting a minimum tax for big firms.