Nigeria posts fastest GDP growth in decade – World Bank

The World Bank stated Monday that Nigeria's economy expanded at the fastest pace in ten years last year as a result of the government's reforms, but it cautioned that inflation is still high.

The bank stated in a report released in the capital Abuja on Monday that "real GDP grew by 4.6 percent year-over-year in Q4 2024, pushing growth for the full year 2024 to 3.4 percent, the highest since 2014 (excluding the 2021-2022 COVID-19 rebound)."

It stated that robust growth in the IT and finance sectors, as well as a sustained rebound in the oil and gas sector, were the primary drivers of the acceleration in GDP growth.

However, because of high input costs and instability in the nation's crop-growing Middle Belt, the agriculture industry grew at a modest pace last year, at 1.2 percent.

Nigeria's economy is expected to grow at a "mildly higher" rate of 3.7 percent this year, according to the bank's prediction.

According to the bank's most recent edition of Nigeria Development Update (NDU), inflation, which has remained "high and sticky," is predicted to drop to an average of 22.1 percent in 2025.

In a statement, Taimur Samad, the interim World Bank country director for Nigeria, said, "Nigeria has made impressive strides to restore macroeconomic stability."