Nigeria’s GDP Growth to Remain Steady at 3.2% in 2025 – IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has maintained its economic growth projections for Nigeria, forecasting a 3.2% expansion in 2025 and 3% growth in 2026.

This was disclosed in the multilateral institution’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report released yesterday.

The latest projections were the same as its predictions in its October 2024 WEO.
The fund also maintained its growth projection for Sub-Saharan Africa for 2025 at 4.2 per cent. However, the forecast for 2026 experienced a slight downgrade by 0.2 per cent.

Speaking on the region’s economic prospects, Division Chief of the IMF Research Department, Deniz Igan at the virtual launch of WEO titled, ‘Global Growth: Divergent and Uncertain’ noted that one of the critical risks for the region was the limited access to external financing faced by many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Igan warned that a stronger United States dollar and tighter global financial conditions could exacerbate debt burdens across the region, increasing downside risks to growth.
She further reiterated the uneven recovery pace across the region and that inflation, while expected to decline, will do so at a slower pace than previously anticipated.

She said: “With Sub-Saharan Africa, what we are projecting for growth or role in 2025 is 4.2 percent, which is unchanged from our October WEO report. In 2026, we expect growth to remain stable at 4.2 percent and this is a slight downgrade from October.

Inflation, in the meantime, is going to continue to decline, although at a slightly faster pace, in 2025 and is going to stay higher than we had predicted in October.

“In 2026 and overall, the growth in the region remains subdued and uneven, and the main reasons behind that are the conflicts, natural disasters, and limited financing.