• Declares economic expansion signals end of economic stabilisation phase
•Services accounted 56.62%, agriculture 26.15%, industries 17.23 amid manufacturing contraction
•Oil accounted for 4.16% as production increases to 1.72 mbpd
James Emejo in Abuja
President Bola Tinubu on yesterday declared that the Nigerian economy had moved beyond the difficult phase of stabilisation, as the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate accelerated to 4.43 per cent in the second quarter of the year (Q2 2026) compared to 3.89 per cent in the preceding quarter.
According to the GDP Q2 2026 Report released yesterday by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the growth rate also surpassed the 4.23 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
The improvement was driven largely by stronger performances in agriculture and services, although the industrial sector recorded a sharp moderation in growth during the quarter.
Tinubu, in a statement issued by Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy), Mr. Bayo Onanuga, said the report could not have come at a better time.
Onanuga said the opposition had been trying to diminish the Tinubu administration’s efforts since May 2023 and even promising to reverse the policies if, perchance, Nigerians voted for them.
The statement said, “In the past three years, we tried to do the hard part by implementing the necessary reforms to stabilise the economy. Now the economy is stabilised, and we have laid the foundation for a prosperous nation. We didn’t do the reforms to create challenges, but to ensure prosperity reaches all our people.
“The results of the efforts are becoming very clear to all: The Renewed Hope Agenda is working. Because of those tough decisions, today Nigeria has trade surpluses. Our foreign reserves are at their highest in 17 years.
“Our credit rating has moved up several notches. We are building roads, railways and superhighways that will last for a long time. Investors who left are returning. Oil and gas production is increasing.
“And in our universities – for the first time in a long time – there are no strikes. Our children are in class. And through NELFUND, student loans are putting education within reach, and affordable credit is going to our civil servants through Creditcorp.”
Onanuga stated, “In the next few weeks, we are addressing some of the challenges being faced by our vulnerable population by providing cheaper means of transport, ramping up food production and implementing various relief programmes that will touch lives at the grassroots.
“Under our watch, the economy is on the irreversible path to experience even more growth that all homes will feel at the dining table and in their pockets. We are not resting on our oars.
“We are fully committed to translating consistent, stronger economic performance into better microeconomic outcomes for our citizens. We must stay vigilant by ensuring the sustainable progress we are recording remains irreversible.”
Meanwhile, the services sector remained the largest contributor to economic output, accounting for 56.62 per cent of real GDP, slightly higher than the 56.53 per cent recorded in Q2 2025.
Aggregate GDP at basic prices stood at N119.29 trillion in nominal terms during the quarter, representing an 18.43 per cent increase over the N100.73 trillion recorded in Q2 2025. However, real GDP stood at N53.47 trillion.
The report showed that the non-oil sector continued to dominate economic activity, contributing 95.84 per cent to real GDP in Q2, although this was marginally lower than 96.08 per cent in Q1 2026 and 95.95 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
On the other hand, the oil sector increased its contribution to 4.16 per cent, compared to 3.92 per cent in Q1 and 4.05 per cent in Q2 2025.
Oil production also improved during the period, with average daily crude oil output rising to 1.72 million barrels per day (mbpd), from 1.55 mbpd in Q1 and 1.68 mbpd in Q2 2025.
Despite the higher production volume, real growth in the oil sector stood at 7.31 per cent year-on-year, substantially below the 20.46 per cent recorded in Q2 2025.
However, the sector recorded a strong quarter-on-quarter expansion of 10.91 per cent, reflecting the improvement in output from the preceding quarter.
The non-oil sector grew by 4.31 per cent in real terms compared to 3.94 per cent in Q1 2026, and 3.64 per cent recorded in Q2 2025.
Agriculture contributed 26.15 per cent to real GDP, compared to 23.16 per cent in the preceding quarter and 26.17 per cent in Q2 2025.
Quarter-on-quarter, the sector’s growth stood at 20.69 per cent in Q2.
Manufacturing, a key component of the industrial sector, contributed 7.72 per cent to GDP from 9.57 per cent – contracting by 15.85 per cent quarter-on-quarter.
Construction’s contribution to real GDP also fell to 3.68 per cent from 4.85 per cent in Q1 and 3.60 per cent in Q2 2025. Trade contributed 17.93 per cent to real GDP compared to 18.28 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
Quarter-on-quarter, the sector’s growth stood at 4.51 per cent.
The finance and insurance sector’s contribution to real GDP rose to 3.37 per cent, from 3.76 per cent in Q1. Quarter-on-quarter, growth in real terms stood at -6.49 per cent.
Mining and quarrying sector contributed 4.30 per cent to the economy under the review period.
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