Nigeria’s manufacturing sector grew by 1.25 percent in the third quarter of 2025 as persistent structural challenges continued to slow industrial expansion, according to the latest Gross Domestic Product report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
Data from the report showed that weak performance in the textile and apparel as well as paper and pulp subsectors weighed heavily on overall sector output.
The textile and apparel segment remained in recession, contracting by 2.41 percent due to high production costs and smuggling of foreign products. The paper and pulp subsector also declined by 1.07 percent within the same period.
The manufacturing sector covers activities such as oil refining, cement production, food and beverages, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, plastics and rubber, electrical and electronics, metal works, motor vehicle assembly and other industrial activities.
The report showed that real growth in the sector was higher than the same period in 2024 but lower than both the second quarter of 2025 and the previous quarter. On a quarter on quarter basis, the sector recorded a growth of 8.65 percent.
Manufacturing contributed 7.62 percent to Nigeria’s real GDP in the third quarter of 2025. This was lower than the 7.82 percent recorded in the same quarter of 2024 and the 7.81 percent recorded in the second quarter of 2025.
Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Muda Yusuf, said the weak performance was driven by high energy and logistics costs, expensive borrowing conditions, heavy dependence on imported raw materials and widespread smuggling.
He said these challenges continue to weaken competitiveness and limit job creation across the manufacturing sector.
Yusuf said stronger performance would require improved power supply, reduced logistics costs, better port efficiency and faster development of transport infrastructure.
He also recommended easier access to concessionary credit, lower import duties on industrial inputs, tougher action against smuggling and policies to ease supply chain pressures.
He added that while Nigeria’s economy is gradually recovering, stronger and more inclusive growth would depend on addressing long standing structural constraints in manufacturing, agriculture and trade.
