Nigeria’s GDP growth is coming from sectors that don’t create enough jobs

Nigeria's economy has been expanding at a faster pace than it has since the second quarter of 2021, according to the latest data. However, this growth is not being evenly distributed across the country. While sectors such as telecommunications and the service industry are experiencing robust growth, other sectors that provide more employment opportunities are expanding at a slower pace.

This disparity in growth has resulted in the economy expanding by 4.43% in real terms during the second quarter of 2026, up from 4.23% the previous year. Real GDP growth, which strips out the effect of rising prices, provides a more accurate measure of whether the economy is actually producing more goods and services.

Despite the overall growth, a significant portion of Nigeria's population continues to live below the national poverty line, with 139 million Nigerians still struggling with poverty according to the World Bank's July report. This highlights the fact that an economy can grow in value without translating into better living standards for its citizens.

The services sector, which makes up 56.62% of Nigeria's GDP, is the primary driver of the recent economic growth. It expanded by 4.60% in Q2 2026. The industry sector, however, grew by 3.96%, down from 7.46% in the prior year, while agriculture grew by 4.39%. Telecommunications and information sector saw a remarkable growth of 10.38%, more than twice the rate of overall GDP growth. Trade increased by 2.40%, and manufacturing grew by 3.24%, with real estate growing by 3.76%.