Nigeria’s economy grew at its fastest pace in three years in the fourth quarter of 2024, driven by a strong performance in the services sector, according to government data released Tuesday.
Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 3.84% year-over-year, up from 3.46% in the previous quarter and higher than the 3.19% and 2.98% recorded in the second and first quarters, respectively.
The National Bureau of Statistics reported that the services sector led the expansion, growing by 5.37% from the previous year. Overall, GDP growth for 2024 stood at 3.40%, an increase from 2.74% in 2023.
Despite the positive momentum, growth remained below the 6% target set by President Bola Tinubu when he took office in mid-2023, underscoring persistent economic challenges in Africa’s most populous nation.
Nigeria plans to rebase its GDP calculations, following a similar update to its Consumer Price Index. The revision is expected to better capture economic activities in emerging sectors such as marine economy, arts, culture, tourism, information technology, and e-commerce, which have expanded since the last update in 2014.
A previous GDP rebasing helped Nigeria surpass South Africa as Africa’s largest economy, though recent currency devaluations have presented hurdles for Tinubu’s administration. However, the World Bank has noted that the country is beginning to benefit from the administration’s early economic reforms.
Nigeria’s oil production in the fourth quarter of 2024 averaged 1.54 million barrels per day, showing little change from the 1.56 million barrels per day recorded a year earlier, according to official data.
The agricultural sector grew by 1.76% in the quarter, while industrial output expanded by 2.00%, indicating modest gains in food production and manufacturing.
Looking ahead, the International Monetary Fund projects that Nigeria’s economy will grow by 3.2% in 2025, reflecting cautious optimism about the country’s economic trajectory.