Nigeria's Revenue Surge Reveals Economic Challenges

Nigeria's public finances experienced unprecedented growth from 2023 to 2025, with the Federation Account earning ₦88.91 trillion, surpassing the ₦29.07 trillion from the previous four years. The Nigeria Revenue Service reported a 315% increase in company income tax and a 283% rise in VAT.

Disbursements to states and local governments reached ₦29.04 trillion, exceeding previous administration totals in one year less. However, following exchange rate unification in June 2023, Nigeria's GDP in dollar terms fell from $477 billion in 2022 to approximately $243 billion in 2024, dropping Nigeria from Africa's largest economy to fourth place, behind South Africa, Egypt, and Algeria.

This decline reflected currency honesty rather than economic collapse. The National Bureau of Statistics' 2025 rebasing refined Nigeria's GDP to ₦372.8 trillion, highlighting the ambitious target of quadrupling the economy by 2030 from this new baseline.