Nigeria’s finance and insurance sector maintained strong momentum in the second quarter of 2025, expanding by 16.13 per cent, according to new data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The latest GDP report showed that the sector’s growth rate was significantly higher than the 0.30 per cent recorded in the same quarter of 2024, and above the 15.03 per cent posted in the first quarter of 2025. Its contribution to real GDP rose to 3.60 per cent in Q2, compared with 3.23 per cent in Q1 2024 and 2.46 per cent in Q4 2024.
Financial institutions remained the dominant driver of the sector, accounting for 87.97 per cent of output, while insurance contributed 12.03 per cent. In nominal terms, the sector expanded by 63.66 per cent year-on-year, with financial institutions growing by 65.24 per cent and insurance by 53 per cent. This lifted its nominal share of GDP to 4.57 per cent, up from 3.33 per cent in Q2 2024.Nigeria’s overall GDP grew by 4.23 per cent in the quarter under review, outpacing the 3.48 per cent recorded in Q2 2024 and the 3.13 per cent in Q1 2025. Aggregate nominal GDP stood at N100.73tn, reflecting steady recovery and reforms in both the oil and non-oil sectors.
The services sector remained the key growth engine, expanding by 4.33 per cent and contributing 57.50 per cent of total output. Industry grew by 3.42 per cent, while agriculture posted a marginal increase of 0.07 per cent after contracting in the previous year.
Analysts attributed the finance sector’s exceptional performance to the spread of digital banking, growth in credit intermediation, and rising insurance penetration. “The sector’s expansion reflects deeper financial inclusion and stronger institutional activity,” noted Comercio Partners in a market commentary.However, experts warned that sustained economic progress would require higher levels of growth. “For a country of over 200 million people, Nigeria needs GDP growth of 8 to 10 per cent on a consistent basis to rebuild its middle class,” said Tilewa Adebajo,
CEO of CFG Advisory.AIICO Capital projected further growth in the third quarter but called for greater investment in infrastructure and fiscal discipline to sustain gains in the industrial sector.
Economist Doyin Salami also raised concerns over what he described as Nigeria’s ongoing “de-industrialisation.” He cautioned that the dominance of the services sector, where jobs are often informal and low-productivity, risks leaving much of the labour force vulnerable and undermines government revenue generation, given that 93 per cent of workers remain outside the formal tax net.
