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The short answer
In July 2025 the National Bureau of Statistics rebased Nigeria's GDP, moving the base year for constant-price estimates from 2010 to 2019 and updating the data sources and coverage of the economy. The rebased estimate put nominal GDP for 2024 at about ₦372.8 trillion. Rebasing changes how big the economy is measured to be and its sector mix; it does not change how much output actually happened.
What rebasing means
Gross domestic product is the value of all final goods and services produced in a period. Statisticians measure it in two ways: at current prices (nominal GDP) and at the prices of a chosen base year (real GDP), so growth can be measured without the effect of inflation. Rebasing does two things at once: it picks a newer base year whose prices and economic structure better reflect today, and it refreshes the surveys and administrative data used to measure each activity, often bringing in parts of the economy that were missed. Because a rebasing replaces the benchmark for every activity at once, it is a large statistical exercise: new survey and administrative data for the base year have to be collected, cleaned and reconciled before the first rebased figures can be published, and earlier years then have to be re-estimated so that the long-run series stays consistent for anyone comparing growth over time.
International guidance, the UN System of National Accounts, recommends rebasing roughly every five years. Nigeria's previous rebasing, in 2014, had moved the base from 1990 to 2010.
The 2025 rebasing in figures
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Announced | July 2025, by the NBS |
| Old base year | 2010 |
| New base year | 2019 |
| Nominal GDP, 2024 (rebased) | About ₦372.8 trillion |
| Framework | 2008 System of National Accounts |
| Coverage added or improved | Activities NBS said were under-measured before, including parts of the digital economy, modular refining and the informal sector |
How the NBS does it
- Choose a base year. 2019 was chosen as a recent year with relatively normal conditions, before the COVID-19 shock of 2020.
- Benchmark surveys and data. Business surveys, household surveys, censuses of establishments and administrative data (taxes, regulators, company accounts) are used to measure output and costs for each activity in the base year.
- Update classifications. Activities are mapped to current international industry classifications so new sectors are counted in the right place.
- Revise the back series. Earlier years are re-estimated on the new basis so growth rates can be compared over time.
- Publish and switch. New quarterly releases use the rebased series.
Worked example: why nominal GDP jumps (example figures)
Suppose an economy's old estimate counted ₦100 of output, but new surveys find another ₦30 of activity in services that were not measured before, and another ₦10 from better data on existing sectors. The rebased estimate for the same year is ₦140, a 40% higher level, even though nothing new was produced. Growth from one year to the next can stay similar, because both years are revised together.
Three ways to measure GDP
- Output (production) approach
- Adds up value added by each activity, such as agriculture, trade, manufacturing and services. The NBS headline GDP uses this approach.
- Expenditure approach
- Adds up household consumption, government consumption, investment and net exports.
- Income approach
- Adds up wages, profits and other incomes earned in production.
In principle all three give the same total. In practice they differ because of data gaps, and the differences are recorded as statistical discrepancies. Rebasing improves the data behind each approach, which usually narrows those gaps.
The 2014 and 2025 rebasings compared
| 2014 rebasing | 2025 rebasing | |
|---|---|---|
| Base year change | 1990 to 2010 | 2010 to 2019 |
| Headline result | 2013 nominal GDP revised to about ₦80.2 trillion | 2024 nominal GDP estimated at about ₦372.8 trillion |
| Main effect reported | Nigeria became Africa's largest economy by nominal GDP at the time | Larger services and informal-sector share; ratios to GDP lowered |
What changes for ratios and policy
Rebasing also changes the sector mix. When better data captures more services, such as telecoms, digital platforms, finance and trade, the share of agriculture and oil in GDP can fall even if their output has not changed. Analysts who compare sector shares before and after a rebasing need to use the revised back series for both periods.
Many policy numbers are measured as a share of GDP. When GDP is rebased upward, those ratios fall, even if the underlying numbers do not change.
- Debt-to-GDP: the same public debt divided by a larger GDP gives a lower ratio.
- Tax-to-GDP: the same tax revenue looks smaller relative to the economy, which matters for debates on federal and state revenue; see how FAAC shares federal revenue.
- GDP per person: rises in naira terms because the numerator is bigger.
- Dollar size: a GDP figure in US dollars also depends on the exchange rate used, so it can move a lot after a devaluation even when naira GDP rises.
Rebasing therefore improves the quality of measurement, but it does not make households better off by itself. For living costs, the more relevant measure is inflation; see how Nigeria measures inflation, which was also rebased in 2025, and what inflation means for your budget.
Questions people ask
What is Nigeria's new GDP base year?
Since the July 2025 rebasing, Nigeria's GDP is measured with 2019 as the base year, replacing 2010.
How big is Nigeria's GDP after rebasing?
The NBS put nominal GDP for 2024 at about ₦372.8 trillion on the rebased series.
Does rebasing mean Nigerians are richer?
No. It measures the same economy more completely and with newer prices. Output and incomes do not change because of the method.
Why does rebasing lower debt-to-GDP?
Debt stays the same while measured GDP rises, so debt as a share of GDP falls.
Sources
- National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) · accessed Oct 2026
- NBS: Rebased GDP release and GDP reports · accessed Oct 2026
- UN Statistics Division: System of National Accounts · accessed Oct 2026
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