Nigeria’s telecommunications sector is becoming an increasingly important engine of economic growth, with the industry recording a 10.38% year-on-year increase in real terms in the second quarter of 2026. The latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that telecommunications and information services contributed N5.20 trillion to Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the quarter, as demand for mobile data and digital services continued to rise.
The sector’s performance was significantly stronger than the wider economy, which grew by 4.43% year-on-year in Q2 2026, compared with 4.23% in the same period of 2025. Telecommunications and information services accounted for 9.72% of real GDP, up from 9.20% a year earlier, making it the fourth-largest individual contributor to Nigeria’s economic output.
Behind the impressive growth are stronger performances from major operators MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria, as Nigerians continue to consume more data. MTN reported a record N1.09 trillion profit before tax in the first half of 2026, while average data usage per subscriber climbed 15.2% year-on-year to 14.8GB monthly. Airtel Nigeria also recorded a 50.4% increase in revenue to $501 million, with data revenue jumping 59.9% to $263 million and its customer base rising to 60.1 million.
The surge in telecoms activity also reflects Nigeria’s growing dependence on digital connectivity. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said in May that Nigerians were consuming about 45,800 terabytes of data daily, highlighting the rapid expansion of internet use, digital platforms and online services. To keep up with this demand, telecom operators invested more than N2.5 trillion in network infrastructure in 2025, signalling continued efforts to expand capacity and improve connectivity.
For Nigeria’s digital economy, the latest GDP figures underline just how central telecommunications has become. While the broader Information and Communication sector grew by 9.62% and contributed 11.74% to real GDP, telecoms remained its dominant component, generating more than four-fifths of the sector’s combined real output. With data consumption climbing and operators continuing to invest heavily in infrastructure, the telecoms industry is increasingly positioning itself as one of the key drivers of Nigeria’s economic growth.
