World Bank projects 3.6% economic growth for Nigeria

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The World Bank
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Says FG’s reforms improved business confidence

The World Bank yesterday projected 3.6 per cent average economic growth for the Nigerian economy between 2025 and 2026, adding that recent reforms by the Federal Government helped to boost business confidence.

The World Bank stated this in its report, Global Economic Prospects, January 2025.  

The World Bank said: “In Nigeria, Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth increased to an estimated 3.3 percent in 2024, mainly driven by services sector activity, particularly in financial and telecommunication services. 

“Macroeconomic and fiscal reforms helped improve business confidence. The central bank tightened monetary policy in response to rising inflation and a weak naira. 

“Meanwhile, the fiscal deficit narrowed due to a surge in revenues driven by the elimination of the implicit foreign exchange subsidy, following the unification of the exchange rate and improved revenue administration.

“Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, SSA is expected to firm to 4.1 per cent in 2025 and 4.3 per cent in 2026, as financial conditions ease alongside further declines in inflation. Following weaker-than-expected regional growth last year, growth projections for 2025 have been revised upward by 0.2 percentage point, and for 2026 by 0.3 percentage point, with improvements seen across various subgroups. At the country level, projected growth has been upgraded for nearly half of SSA economies in both 2025 and 2026.

“Growth in Nigeria is forecast to strengthen to an average of 3.6 percent annually in 2025-26. Following monetary policy tightening in 2024, inflation is projected to decline gradually, boosting consumption and supporting growth in the services sector, which continues to be the main driver of growth. Oil production is expected to increase over the forecast period but remain below the OPEC quota. The baseline forecast implies that per capita income growth will remain weak over the forecast horizon.”

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