Economy of Nigeria

Economy of Nigeria

Lagos, the financial centre of Nigeria
Currency	Nigerian naira (NGN, ₦)
Fiscal year	1 April – 31 March[1]
Trade organisations	AU, AfCFTA, ECOWAS, WTO
Country group	Developing/Emerging[2] Lower-middle income economy[3]
Statistics
Population	223,804,632 (2019)[4]
GDP	$252.73 billion (nominal, 2024)[5] $1.44 trillion (PPP, 2024)[6]
GDP rank	39th (nominal, 2023) 27th (PPP, 2023)
GDP growth	2.2% (2019)[7] -3.0% (2020 est.)[7] 3.1% (2024 est.)[7]
GDP per capita	$1,109(nominal, 2024)[5] $6,320 (PPP, 2024)[5]
GDP per capita rank	154th (nominal, 2022) 143rd (PPP, 2022)
GDP by sector	agriculture: 21.96% industry: 23.65% services: 54.39% (2020 est.)[8]
Inflation (CPI)	22.4% (2021 est.)[9]
Population below poverty line	38.9% (2023 est.)[10]
Gini coefficient	35.1 medium (2020)[11]
Human Development Index	0.548 low (2022)[12] (161st)
Labour force	90,471,000 (Q3 2018)[13]
Labour force by occupation	Accommodation, food, transportation, and real estate: 12.2% Education, health, science, and technology: 6.3% Farming, forestry and fishing: 30.5% Manufacturing, mining, and quarrying: 11.3% Retail, maintenance, repair, and operations: 24.9% Managerial, finance and insurance: 4.2% Telecommunication, arts, and entertainment: 1.8% Other services: 8.8% (2010)[14]
Unemployment	32.1% (Q1 2021)[15]
Main industries	cement, oil refining, construction and construction materials, food processing and food products, beverages and tobacco, textiles, apparel and footwear, pharmaceutical products, wood products, pulp paper products, chemicals, ceramic products, plastic and rubber products, electrical and electronic products, base metals: iron and steel, information technology, automobile manufacturing, and other manufacturing (2015)[16]
External
Exports	$42.4 billion (2022)[17]
Export goods	petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, vehicles, aircraft parts, vessels, vegetable products, processed food, beverages, spirits and vinegar, cashew nuts, processed leather, cocoa, tobacco, aluminum alloys (2015)[18]
Main export partners	India 14.8%  Spain 11.3%  China 5.99%  Netherlands 5.27%  South Africa 5.12%  France 4.65% (2020)[17]
Imports	$52 billion (2022)[17]
Import goods	industry supplies, machinery, appliances, vehicles, aircraft parts, chemicals, base metals (2015)[18]
Main import partners	China 33.6%  Netherlands 8.82%  United States 8.63%  India 6.65%  Belgium 3.82% (2020)[17]
FDI stock	$116.9 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[19] Abroad: $16.93 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[19]
Current account	$10.38 billion (2017 est.)[19]
Gross external debt	$85.9 billion (31 December 2020 est.)[20]
Public finances
Government debt	36.6% of GDP (2021 est.)[21]
Budget balance	$5.2 billion; 1% of GDP (2014)[22]
Revenues	₦11.045 trillion[23] 14.16% of GDP (2023)[24]
Expenses	₦21.827 trillion[23] 27.99% of GDP (2023)[24]
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's:[25] B+ (Domestic) B+ (Foreign) B+ (T&C Assessment) Outlook: Stable[26] Fitch:[26] BB- Outlook: Stable
Foreign reserves	$38.77 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[19]
Main data source: CIA World Fact Book All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

The economy of Nigeria is a middle-income, mixed economy and emerging market^[27][28] with expanding manufacturing, financial, service, communications, technology, and entertainment sectors.^[29][30] It is ranked as the 39th-largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP, the second largest in Africa and the 27th-largest in terms of purchasing power parity.

Nigeria has the 2nd largest economy in Africa. The country's re-emergent manufacturing sector became the largest on the continent in 2013, and it produces a large proportion of goods and services for the region of West Africa.^[31] Nigeria's debt-to-GDP ratio was 36.63% in 2021 according to the IMF.^[21]

Although oil revenues contributed 2/3 of state revenues,^[32] oil only contributes about 9% to the GDP. Nigeria produces only about 2.7% of the world's oil supply. Although the petroleum sector is important, as government revenues still heavily rely on this sector, it remains a small part of the country's overall economy. The largely subsistence agricultural sector has not kept up with the country's rapid population growth. Nigeria was once a large net exporter of food, but currently imports some of its food products. Mechanization has led to a resurgence in the manufacturing and exporting of food products, and there was consequently a move towards food sufficiency.^[33] In 2006, Nigeria came to an agreement with the Paris Club to buy back the bulk of its owed debts from them, in exchange for a cash payment of roughly US$12 billion.^[34]

According to a Citigroup report published in February 2011, Nigeria would have the highest average GDP growth in the world between 2010 and 2050.^[35] Nigeria is one of two countries from Africa among the 11 Global Growth Generators countries.^[36]