Nigeria is a middle-income, mixed economy and emerging market, with expanding manufacturing, financial, service, communications, technology and entertainment sectors. It is ranked as the 27th-largest economy in the world in terms of nominal GDP, and the 22nd-largest in terms of purchasing power parity. It is the largest economy in Africa; its re-emergent manufacturing sector became the largest on the continent in 2013, and it produces a large proportion of goods and services for the West African subcontinent.[18] In addition, the debt-to-GDP ratio is 11 percent, which is 8 percent below the 2012 ratio.[19]

Economy of
Nigeria
2014 Victoria Island Lagos Nigeria 15006436297.jpg
Lagos, the financial centre of Nigeria
Currency
Nigerian naira (NG₦)
Fiscal year
1 April – 31 March [1]
Trade organisations
AU, WTO
Statistics
GDP
$397.472 billion (nominal, 2018 est.)[2]
$1.169 trillion (PPP, 2018 est.)[2]
GDP rank
31st (nominal, 2018)
23rd (PPP, 2018)
GDP growth
-1.6% (2016) 0.8% (2017)
1.9% (2018e) 2.2% (2019f) [3]
GDP per capita
$2,050 (nominal, 2018 est.)[2]
$6,030 (PPP, 2018 est.)[2]
GDP per capita rank
137th (nominal, 2017)
129th (PPP, 2017)
GDP by sector
Agriculture: 21.6%

Industry: 18.3%

Services: 60.1% (2017 est.)[4]
Inflation (CPI)
Positive decrease 11.4% (2018)[5]
Population below poverty line
46% (2009)[6]
Gini coefficient
43.0 medium (2009, World Bank)[7]
Labour force
90.5 million (Q3 2018)[8]
Labour force by occupation
Accommodation, food, transportation and real estate: 12.2%

Education, health, science and technology: 6.3%

Farming, forestry and fishing: 30.5%

Manufacturing, mining and quarrying: 11.3%

Retail, maintenance, repair, and operations: 24.9%

Managerial, finance and insurance: 4.2%

Telecommunication, arts and entertainment: 1.8%

Other services: 8.8%

(2010)[9]
Unemployment
23.1% (Q3 2018) [10]
Main industries
cement, oil refining, construction and construction materials, food processing and food products, beverages and tobacco, textiles, apparel and footwear, pharmaceutical products, wood products, pulp paper products, chemicals, ceramic products, plastic and rubber products, electrical and electronic products, base metals: iron and steel, information technology, automobile manufacturing, and other manufacturing

(2015)[11]
Ease-of-doing-business rank
169 (2017)[12]
External
Exports
Decrease $40.81 billion (2017 est.)[4]
Export goods
petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, vehicles, aircraft parts, vessels, vegetable products, processed food, beverages, spirits and vinegar, cashew nuts, processed leather, cocoa, tobacco, aluminum alloys

(2015)[13]
Main export partners
India 14.1%

Spain 10.3%

Netherlands 10.3%

South Africa 8.4%

Brazil 5.1%

(Q1 2015)[13]
Imports
Positive decrease $35.24 billion (2017 est.)[4]
Import goods
industry supplies, machinery, appliances, vehicles, aircraft parts, chemicals, base metals

(2015)[13]
Main import partners
China 22.5%

United States 9.6%

India 7.7%

Belgium 5.6%

Netherlands 5.4%

(Q1 2015)[13]
FDI stock
Increase Inward: $116.9 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[4]
Increase Outward: $16.93 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[4]
Gross external debt
Negative increase $40.96 billion (31 December 2017 est.)[14]
Public finances
Public debt
$56.74 billion; 10.9% of GDP (2015)[15]
Revenues
$54.48 billion
Expenses
$31.61 billion (2012 est.)
Credit rating
Standard & Poor's:[16]

B+ (Domestic)

B+ (Foreign)

B+ (T&C Assessment)

Outlook: Stable[17]

Fitch:[17]

BB-

Outlook: Stable
Foreign reserves
$42.8 billion (2012)
Main data source: CIA World Fact Book

All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.
Previously hindered by years of mismanagement, economic reforms of the past decade[when?] have put Nigeria back on track towards achieving its full economic potential. Nigerian GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) has almost tripled from $170 billion in 2000 to $451 billion in 2012, although estimates of the size of the informal sector (which is not included in official figures) put the actual numbers closer to $630 billion. Correspondingly, the GDP per capita doubled from $1400 per person in 2000 to an estimated $2,800 per person in 2012 (again, with the inclusion of the informal sector, it is estimated that GDP per capita hovers around $3,900 per person). (Population increased from 120 million in 2000 to 160 million in 2010). These figures were to be revised upwards by as much as 80% when metrics were to be recalculated subsequent to the rebasing of its economy in April 2014.[needs update][20]

Although oil revenues contribute 2/3 of state revenues,[21] oil only contributes about 9% to the GDP. Nigeria produces only about 2.7% of the world's oil supply (in comparison, Saudi Arabia produces 12.9%, Russia produces 12.7% and the United States produces 8.6%).[22] Although the petroleum sector is important, as government revenues still heavily rely on this sector, it remains a small part of the country's overall economy.

The largely subsistence agricultural sector has not kept up with rapid population growth, and Nigeria, once a large net exporter of food, now[when?] imports some of its food products, though mechanization has led to a resurgence in manufacturing and exporting of food products, and the move towards food sufficiency. In 2006, Nigeria successfully convinced the Paris Club to let it buy back the bulk of its debts owed to them for a cash payment of roughly US$12 billion.[23]

According to a Citigroup report published in February 2011, Nigeria will have the highest average GDP growth in the world between 2010 and 2050. Nigeria is one of two countries from Africa among 11 Global Growth Generators countries.[24]

Overview
Edit
In 2014, Nigeria changed its economic analysis to account for rapidly growing contributors to its GDP, such as telecommunications, banking, and its film industry.[25]

In 2005, Nigeria achieved a milestone agreement with the Paris Club of lending nations to eliminate all of its bilateral external debt. Under the agreement, the lenders will forgive most of the debt, and Nigeria will pay off the remainder with a portion of its energy revenues. Outside of the energy sector, Nigeria's economy is highly inefficient. Moreover, human capital is underdeveloped—Nigeria ranked 151 out of countries in the United Nations Development Index in 2004—and non-energy-related infrastructure is inadequate.

From 2003 to 2007, Nigeria attempted to implement an economic reform program called the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS). The purpose of the NEEDS was to raise the country's standard of living through a variety of reforms, including macroeconomic stability, deregulation, liberalization, privatization, transparency, and accountability.

The NEEDS addressed basic deficiencies, such as the lack of freshwater for household use and irrigation, unreliable power supplies, decaying infrastructure, impediments to private enterprise, and corruption. The government hoped that the NEEDS would create 7 million new jobs, diversify the economy, boost non-energy exports, increase industrial capacity utilization, and improve agricultural productivity. A related initiative on the state level is the State Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (SEEDS).

A longer-term economic development program is the United Nations (UN)-sponsored National Millennium Goals for Nigeria. Under the program, which covers the years from 2000 to 2015, Nigeria is committed to achieving a wide range of ambitious objectives involving poverty reduction, education, gender equality, health, the environment, and international development cooperation. In an update released in 2004, the UN found that Nigeria was making progress toward achieving several goals but was falling short on others.

Specifically, Nigeria had advanced efforts to provide universal primary education, protect the environment, and develop a global development partnership.

A prerequisite for achieving many of these worthwhile objectives is curtailing endemic corruption, which stymies development and taints Nigeria's business environment. President Olusegun Obasanjo's campaign against corruption, which includes the arrest of officials accused of misdeeds and recovering stolen funds, has won praise from the World Bank. In September 2005, Nigeria, with the assistance of the World Bank, began to recover US$458 million of illicit funds that had been deposited in Swiss banks by the late military dictator Sani Abacha, who ruled Nigeria from 1993 to 1998. However, while broad-based progress has been slow, these efforts have begun to become evident in international surveys of corruption. In fact, Nigeria's ranking has consistently improved since 2001 ranking 147 out of 180 countries in Transparency International's 2007 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The Nigerian economy suffers from an ongoing supply crisis in the power sector. Despite a rapidly growing economy, some of the world's largest deposits of coal, oil and gas and the country's status as Africa's largest oil producer, power supply difficulties are frequently experienced by residents.

Economic history
Edit
Further information: Economic history of Nigeria
This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Nigeria at market prices estimated[26] by the International Monetary Fund with figures in USD billions. Figures before 2000 are backwards projections from the 2000–2012 numbers, based on historical growth rates, and should be replaced when data becomes available. The figure for 2014 is derived from a rebasing of economical activity earlier in the year.

Year Gross domestic product,

(PPP, in billions) US dollar exchange Inflation index

(2000=100) Per capita income

(as % of USA)
1980 *58 1 Naira 1.30 7%
1985 *82 3 Naira 3.20 5%
1990 *118 9 Naira 8.10 2.5%
1995 *155 50 Naira 56 3%
2000 170 100 Naira 100 3.5%
2005 291 130 Naira 207 4%
2010 392 150 Naira 108 5%
2012 451 158 Naira 121 7%
2014 972 180 Naira 10 11%
2015 1,089 220 Naira 10 10%
2016 1,093 280 Naira 17 10%
2017 1,125 360 Naira 5 (est) 10%
NOTES:

The US dollar exchange rate is an estimated average of the official rate throughout a year, and does not reflect the parallel market rate at which the general population accesses foreign exchange. This rate ranged from a high of 520 in March 2017 to a low of 350 in August 2017, due to a scarcity of forex (oil earnings had dropped by half), and to speculative activity as alleged by the Central Bank. All the while the official rate was pegged at 360.

Per capita income (as % of USA) is calculated using data from estimates in the PPP link above, and from census estimates, based on growth rates between census periods. For instance 2017 GDPs were 1,125 Billion (Nigeria) vs. 19,417 Billion (USA) and populations were estimated at 320 million vs 190 million. The ratio is therefore (1125/19417) / (190/320), which roughly comes to 0.0975. These are estimates and are intended to get a feel for the relative wealth and standard of living, as well as the market potential of its middle class.

This is a chart of trend of the global ranking of the Nigerian economy, in comparison with other countries of the world, derived from the historical List of countries by GDP (PPP).

Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 (est.)
Ranking 52 47 38 37 34 31 31 30 23 20 21 22 23
This chart shows the variance in the parallel exchange rate at which the Dollar can be obtained with Naira in Lagos, with "Best" being cheaper for a Nigerian (i.e. stronger Naira).[27][28]

Year 2015 2016 2017
Best 195 345 350
Worst 237 490 520
For purchasing power parity comparisons, the US dollar is exchanged at 1 USD to 314.27 Nigerian Naira (as of 2017).[29]

Current GDP per capita of Nigeria expanded 132% in the sixties reaching a peak growth of 283% in the seventies. But this proved unsustainable and it consequently shrank by 66% in the Eighties. In the Nineties, diversification initiatives finally took effect and decadal growth was restored to 10%. Although GDP on a PPP basis did not increase until the 2000's.[30]

In 2012, the GDP was composed of the following sectors: agriculture: 40%; services: 30%; manufacturing: 15%; oil: 14%.[31] By 2015, the GDP was composed of the following sectors: agriculture: 18%; services: 55%; manufacturing: 16%; oil: 8% [11]

In 2005 Nigeria's inflation rate was an estimated 15.6%. Nigeria's goal under the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) program is to reduce inflation to the single digits. By 2015, Nigeria's inflation stood at 9%. In 2005, the federal government had expenditures of US$13.54 billion but revenues of only US$12.86 billion, resulting in a budget deficit of 5%. By 2012, expenditures stood at $31.61 billion, while revenues was $54.48 billion