Nigeria’s finance and insurance sector recorded a 14.54% growth rate in 2025, representing a sharp increase from the 2.95% growth posted in 2024.
This is according to the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report for Q4 2025 released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.
The data highlights a strong performance by the sector, which comprises financial institutions and insurance services.
In real terms, financial institutions accounted for 90.43% of the sector’s output in Q4 2025, while the insurance subsector contributed 9.57%. The figures underscore the dominance of financial institutions within the broader finance and insurance space.
What the data is saying
The NBS report shows that the contribution of finance and insurance to real GDP stood at 2.56% in Q4 2025. This represents an increase of 0.10 percentage points compared to the 2.46% recorded in Q4 2024.
- “Overall, growth stood at 14.54%, higher than the 2.95% recorded in 2024. The contribution of Finance and Insurance to real GDP totalled 2.56%, higher than the contribution of 2.46% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024 by 0.10% points, and lower than 2.65% recorded in Q3 2025 by 0.09% points.
- “In total, 2.97% was contributed in 2025, higher than 2.69% in 2024.”
The NBS further noted that real growth in the sector stood at 8.30% in Q4 2025, which was 2.31 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024 but 11.33 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in the preceding quarter.
Quarter-on-quarter, growth in real terms was 8.37%, reflecting sustained expansion within the sector during the period under review.
Get up to speed
In nominal terms, the finance and insurance sector grew by 26.58% year-on-year in Q4 2025. Financial institutions recorded a growth rate of 26.15%, while the insurance subsector posted a stronger growth rate of 30.83%.
- “The overall rate was lower than Q4 2024 by 0.86% points, and lower by 13.97% points than the preceding quarter.”
Quarter-on-quarter nominal growth stood at 13.00%.
Overall nominal growth for 2025 stood at 38.51%, higher than the 22.82% recorded in 2024.
The sector’s contribution to nominal GDP was 2.91% in Q4 2025, compared to 2.70% a year earlier and 2.78% in the preceding quarter.
On a full-year basis, the sector contributed 3.30% to nominal GDP in 2025, up from 2.82% in 2024, reflecting improved performance across both subsectors.
What you should know
Nigeria’s GDP grew by 4.07% year-on-year in real terms in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to the NBS report. The performance indicates a stronger economic expansion compared to earlier quarters.
- In Q3 2025, GDP grew by 3.98% year-on-year in real terms.
- The Q3 2025 figure was higher than the 3.86% recorded in the same quarter of 2024.
- The finance and insurance sector remains one of the key contributors to Nigeria’s non-oil economy.
The improved performance of the finance and insurance sector in 2025 aligns with the broader expansion in Nigeria’s GDP, highlighting the growing importance of financial services in supporting economic activity.
