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Nigeria’s power sector contracted for a second consecutive quarter in 2026 even as the wider economy accelerated, with real output in electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply falling 10.63% year on year in the second quarter.
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The sector contracted 10.63% in Q2, following a 15.30% decline in Q1. Power supply expanded by 11.47% in Q2 2025.
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Nigeria’s economy grew 4.43% in Q2, up from 3.89% in Q1 and 4.23% a year earlier. Power’s share of real GDP fell to 1.05% from 1.23% in Q2 2025.
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Real sector output fell to about N561.76 billion from N628.61 billion a year earlier, using constant 2019 prices.
September 01, (THEWILL) — Nigeria’s latest GDP figures show an economy growing faster while its electricity and gas supply sector continues to shrink.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply contracted 10.63% year on year in real terms in Q2 2026. Q1 recorded a deeper 15.30% decline, extending the sector’s downturn into a second quarter.
Nigeria’s overall GDP, meanwhile, grew 4.43% during the quarter, compared with 3.89% in Q1 and 4.23% in Q2 2025. The latest growth was the strongest quarterly expansion since Q3 2024, according to the NBS.
Power contributed 1.05% of real GDP in Q2, down from 1.23% a year earlier.
At constant 2019 prices, output from electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply stood at about N561.76 billion in Q2, compared with N628.61 billion in Q2 2025. That represents a decline of roughly N66.85 billion in real output.
NBS’s measure covers more than electricity generation. It captures the economic activity of electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply, so the decline in real sector output should not be interpreted as a direct measure of how many megawatts Nigeria generated during the quarter.
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Power had been moving in the opposite direction a year earlier.
The sector grew 11.47% in real terms in Q2 2025, after expanding 7.71% in Q2 2024. Its share of real GDP also increased from 1.15% in Q2 2024 to 1.23% in Q2 2025.
Recent industrial figures offer a different picture. Industry grew 3.96% in real terms in Q2 2026, down from 7.46% a year earlier, although manufacturing expanded 3.24%. Construction grew 6.75%.
Services remained the largest contributor to real GDP, accounting for 56.62% and growing 4.60%. Agriculture accounted for 26.15% and grew 4.39%.
Information and communication recorded stronger growth, expanding 9.62% in Q2. Telecommunications and information services grew 10.38%, showing that parts of the economy can expand even as electricity and gas supply contracts.
Businesses that rely heavily on electricity still face the cost of an unreliable power supply.
Manufacturers and other energy-intensive operators often turn to diesel or petrol generators when grid supply is inadequate, increasing the cost of production.
The GDP data, however, does not establish how much those costs contributed to the slowdown in industrial growth.
Nigeria, therefore, entered the second half of 2026 with a stronger overall growth rate but a power sector that had contracted for two straight quarters.
The latest figures point to a recovery that has yet to extend evenly across the economy.
Joy Onuorah is a business journalist and brand communications specialist covering financial markets, artificial intelligence, digital economy, and the ideas reshaping business across Africa and the global market. Beyond her reporting for TheWill, Joy uses brand strategy, storytelling, copywriting, and high-value SEO to help brands build lasting market authority.
