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Nigeria’s finance and insurance sector recorded real growth of 9.29% in the second quarter of 2026, down from 16.13% in the corresponding period of 2025.
This is according to the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The slowdown comes as the banking and insurance industries concluded major recapitalisation exercises that collectively raised more than N5.3 trillion in fresh capital.
What the data shows
The NBS data indicates that the sector’s real growth rate declined by 6.84 percentage points year-on-year compared with Q2 2025.
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However, the sector showed a slight improvement from the preceding quarter, with real growth rising by 0.74 percentage points from the level recorded in Q1 2026.
- “Growth in this sector in real terms totaled 9.29%, lower by 6.84 percentage points from the rate recorded in the 2025 second quarter and higher by 0.74 percentage points from the rate recorded in the preceding quarter.”
Despite the quarterly improvement in annual growth, the sector’s quarter-on-quarter real growth contracted by 6.49%
Financial institutions remain dominant
The finance and insurance sector comprises two subsectors: Financial Institutions and Insurance.
In real terms, Financial Institutions continued to dominate sector activity, accounting for 87.22% of total output in Q2 2026, while the Insurance subsector contributed 12.78%.
On a nominal basis, the sector expanded by 11.88% year-on-year during the quarter.
A breakdown of the performance showed:
- Financial Institutions grew by 10.92%
- Insurance grew by 18.88%
Although both subsectors recorded positive nominal growth, the sector’s overall nominal growth rate was significantly weaker than the corresponding period of 2025, declining by 51.79 percentage points year-on-year and by 35.03 percentage points compared with the preceding quarter.
Quarter-on-quarter nominal growth stood at 21.49%.
Contribution to GDP
The sector contributed 4.32% to Nigeria’s nominal GDP in Q2 2026, lower than the 4.57% recorded in the same period of 2025 but higher than the 3.83% contribution posted in the first quarter of 2026.
- In real terms, the finance and insurance sector accounted for 3.37% of GDP, representing an increase from 3.23% recorded in Q2 2025.
However, this was below the 3.76% contribution recorded in Q1 2026, reflecting a decline of 0.39 percentage points on a quarterly basis.
Get up to speed
The latest figures come after the completion of major recapitalisation programmes across the banking and insurance industries.
- Under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recapitalisation programme, banks raised a combined N4.61 trillion in fresh capital before the March 31, 2026 deadline.
- The CBN said the exercise boosted investor confidence, attracted increased foreign participation and supported the regional expansion plans of Nigerian banks.
- Meanwhile, the insurance industry raised at least N720 billion as 43 operators met new capital requirements by the July 31, 2026 deadline.
The recapitalisation exercise concluded the 12-month compliance window introduced following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) 2025, signed into law by President Bola Tinubu in July 2025.
What you should know
Nigeria’s economy grew by 4.43% year-on-year in real terms in the second quarter of 2026, according to the NBS.
The growth rate was higher than the 4.23% recorded in Q2 2025, reflecting a modest acceleration in economic activity.
The statistics agency attributed the expansion largely to stronger growth in the agriculture and services sectors, while industrial sector growth slowed significantly compared with the same period last year.
