Nigeria’s GDP grew 4.23% in Q2 2025, but labour unions and business leaders argue the figures fail to reflect worsening economic realities for citizens.
Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product rose by 4.23 per cent year-on-year in real terms in the second quarter of 2025, according to new data released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The growth rate outpaced the 3.48 per cent recorded in the same period of 2024, driven largely by a rebound in oil production and steady non-oil expansion. NBS noted that the latest estimates followed the rebasing of GDP using 2019 as the base year, which “provided a new quarterly GDP series” for comparison.
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress dismissed the figures, describing them as detached from citizens’ realities. “When we talk about GDP growth, the key question is how it impacts the lives of the people,” a senior NLC official told our correspondent. “If the figure is in doubt, or if it does not translate into better living conditions, then it is meaningless. That is what we call growth without development.”
Despite optimism from economists who said the figures signalled recovery, private sector operators also cautioned that the reported growth masked weaknesses in manufacturing, trade, and household welfare.