Abuja — Nigeria’s economic growth slowed to 3.98% year-on-year in the third quarter, data showed on Monday, as inflation and tight monetary policy weighed on activity.
Growth in services and agriculture, as well as rising oil production, drove the economic expansion in July-September, but overall economic growth slowed from 4.23% year-on-year in the second quarter.
The economy expanded by 3.13% in the first three months of this year after updated calculations following a rebasing of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The rebasing exercise took place in July and aims to reflect structural changes in Africa’s most populous nation.
In the third quarter, the oil sector grew 5.84% year-on-year, supported by an average daily crude output of 1.64 million barrels per day (bpd) (NGOIL=ECI), opens new tab, up from 1.47 million bpd in the same quarter of 2024. But the sector’s share of GDP slipped to 3.44%, reflecting Nigeria’s continued reliance on non-oil activities.
The non-oil sector expanded by 3.91%, buoyed by 4.15% growth year-on-year in services and in industry, while agriculture grew 3.77%, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
The World Bank said in October that Nigeria had made progress in stabilizing its economy through recent policy reforms but urged more action to improve living standards and curb soaring food prices.
The Bank projects Nigerian GDP growth of 4.2% in 2025, up from 3.4% in 2024 and rising to 4.4% by 2027, supported by services, agriculture and non-oil industries. Inflation is expected to ease gradually, but remain high. It stood at 16.05% in October and the central bank’s main interest rate is at 27%.
*Elisha Bala-Gbogbo & Shamsuddin Mohd; editing: Gareth Jones & Susan Fenton – Reuters
