By Our Reporter
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported strong growth in Nigeria’s mining and quarrying sector, which expanded by 20.86 per cent year-on-year in real terms in the second quarter of 2025.
In its latest Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report (Q2 2025), the bureau said the sector, covering crude petroleum, natural gas, coal, metal ores, quarrying, and other minerals, also grew nominally by 4.61 per cent.
Quarrying and other minerals led the sub-sectors with a 50.41 per cent growth rate, followed by coal mining at 32.59 per cent. Crude petroleum and natural gas remained the largest contributor, accounting for 93.9 per cent of sector activity.
According to the NBS, Q2 2025 growth marked an increase of 13.35 percentage points compared to Q2 2024, and 17.89 points higher than Q1 2025. On a quarterly basis, the sector grew by 3.92 per cent.
Despite the gains, mining and quarrying contributed 2.98 per cent to overall GDP in nominal terms, lower than 3.40 per cent in Q2 2024 and 4.38 per cent in Q1 2025. In real terms, however, the sector’s share rose to 4.23 per cent, up from 3.64 per cent in the same quarter of 2024 and 4.22 per cent in Q1 2025.
On agriculture, the NBS reported mixed outcomes. The sector grew by 1.84 per cent year-on-year in nominal terms in Q2 2025, a drop of 9.71 percentage points from Q2 2024, and 8.20 points lower than Q1 2025.
Crop production remained the dominant driver, accounting for 57.06 per cent of total nominal agricultural output. Overall, agriculture contributed 21.04 per cent to nominal GDP in the period under review, lower than the 24.63 per cent recorded in Q2 2024, but higher than the 19.40 per cent contribution in Q1 2025.
In real terms, agriculture grew by 2.82 per cent, up from 0.07 per cent in Q1 2025 and 2.60 per cent in Q2 2024. Quarter-on-quarter, the sector recorded a robust 16.40 per cent increase.
Its contribution to aggregate GDP in real terms stood at 26.17 per cent, slightly below the 26.53 per cent recorded in Q2 2024 but higher than the 23.33 per cent in Q1 2025.