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ABUJA, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s economy expanded 4.23% year on year in the second quarter, its quickest pace in about four years, helped by higher oil output and a stronger performance by industry and agriculture.

Monday’s release by the statistics agency is the second to reflect a rebasing of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) aimed at capturing structural changes to the economy of Africa’s most populous country.

Nigeria recorded average daily oil production of 1.68 million barrels per day (bpd) over April to June, up from 1.41 million bpd in the same quarter of 2024. That meant the oil sector grew 20.46% in annual terms.

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Agriculture grew 2.82% year on year in the second quarter of 2025, while industry grew 7.45%.

Bismarck Rewane, a leading economist, said the higher growth rate was partly due to the rebasing exercise earlier this year.

“The rebasing of the GDP … has helped to reflect current economic realities,” he told Reuters.

President Bola Tinubu has been trying to boost growth and shore up public finances by cutting subsidies.

Last month he announced a new 7% annual economic growth target, higher than the 6% he aimed for when he took office in 2023.

Nigeria’s economy grew 3.13% in year-on-year terms in the first quarter of 2025. It last registered quarterly GDP growth of more than 4% in 2021, LSEG data show.