MTN, Airtel push telecoms to 10.38% growth, N5.2 trillion GDP

Nigeria’s telecommunications and information services sector contributed N5.20 trillion to real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of 2026, driven largely by leading players such as MTN and Airtel.

The sector recorded 10.38% real year-on-year growth in Q2 2026, accelerating from 7.39% in the corresponding quarter of 2025, according to the latest GDP report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Its contribution to real GDP stood at 9.72%, making telecommunications and information services the fourth-largest individual contributor to Nigeria’s real economic output during the quarter.

Nigeria’s overall economy grew by 4.43% year-on-year in real terms, up from 4.23% in Q2 2025, meaning the telecoms and information services sector expanded at more than twice the pace of the wider economy.

What the data is saying

The NBS figures show that telecommunications and information services generated N5.20 trillion in real output, measured at 2019 constant prices, during Q2 2026.

• The sub-sector’s 9.72% contribution to real GDP was up from 9.20% in Q2 2025, while its real growth accelerated from 7.39% to 10.38%.

At the broader sector level, Information and Communication—which includes telecommunications and information services, broadcasting, motion pictures, sound recording and music production, and publishing—grew by 9.62% year-on-year in real terms.

• The sector contributed 11.74% to Nigeria’s total real GDP, up from 11.18% in Q2 2025 and 11.31% in Q1 2026.
• In nominal terms, Information and Communication generated N14.64 trillion, representing 12.27% of aggregate nominal GDP, compared with N10.07 trillion and 10.00% a year earlier.

Its nominal growth accelerated to 45.32% year-on-year during the quarter.

MTN, Airtel performance reflects rising data demand

The expansion in telecommunications activity comes as Nigeria’s two leading mobile network operators continue to record stronger demand for data and improved financial performance.

• MTN Nigeria, the country’s largest telecom operator, recorded a record N1.09 trillion profit before tax in the first half of 2026, representing a 75.4% increase from the corresponding period a year earlier.
• The company attributed the improvement to strong data demand, improved operating efficiency, and lower borrowing costs.
• MTN’s data business has continued to expand alongside rising consumption. In the first half of 2026, the average MTN subscriber used 14.8GB of data per month, up 15.2% year-on-year, while its active data-user base increased by 9.3% to 55.7 million.
• Airtel Nigeria also recorded strong growth during the period, with its $501 million in total revenue, representing a 50.4% year-on-year increase in reported currency and 29.8% in constant currency.

Data was the largest contributor to the growth, with revenue rising 59.9% to $263 million in reported currency, while voice revenue increased 42.6% to $191 million.

The company’s earnings also strengthened, with EBITDA rising 58.4% to $293 million, while its EBITDA margin improved to 58.6%. Airtel Nigeria’s customer base grew 12% to 60.1 million, while its data customers increased 11% to 32.5 million.

• The performance of the two operators comes as Nigerians’ reliance on digital services continues to increase.

In May 2026, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said Nigerians were consuming about 45,800 terabytes of data every day, highlighting the rapid growth in internet usage and digital platforms.

More insights

The expansion in telecoms activity is being supported by continued investment in network infrastructure as operators attempt to keep pace with rising data consumption.

• The NCC said telecommunications operators invested more than N2.5 trillion in network infrastructure in 2025.
• Telecommunications and information services remained by far the largest activity within the Information and Communication sector, but the other components also recorded growth during Q2 2026.
• Broadcasting generated N762.29 billion in real output, contributing 1.43% to total real GDP, while growing by 4.98% year-on-year, up from 2.78% in Q2 2025.
• Motion pictures, sound recording and music production contributed N305.60 billion in real output, representing 0.57% of real GDP. The sub-sector grew by 9.15%, more than twice its 4.07% growth in Q2 2025.

Publishing, the smallest activity in the sector, generated N8.55 billion in real output and contributed 0.02% to real GDP. Its real growth stood at 1.90%, although its nominal output surged by 159.29% year-on-year to N29.10 billion.

Together, the four activities generated about N6.28 trillion in real output, with telecommunications and information services accounting for more than four-fifths of the total.

What you should know

The latest NBS figures show that telecommunications is expanding considerably faster than the wider Nigerian economy, with its 10.38% growth in Q2 2026 coming against overall GDP growth of 4.43%.

The expansion coincides with stronger financial performance from MTN and Airtel, rising data consumption and billions of naira in network investments as operators increase capacity to meet demand.

For Nigeria’s digital economy, the numbers point to an increasingly important role for telecommunications, which now accounts for almost one-tenth of the country’s total real GDP and generated more than N5 trillion in real economic output in a single quarter.