Economic activity in Nigeria remained strong in February 2026, with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reporting that the composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 56.4 points.
Revealed resilience in growth across the country’s key sectors, the latest figure is an increase from 55.7 points recorded in January.
This extends Nigeria’s expansion streak to 15 consecutive months. A PMI reading above the 50-point threshold indicates improving business conditions, noting sustained growth across industry, services, and agriculture.
Industry sector leads expansion
The industry sector recorded the strongest performance in February, posting a PMI of 56.8 points. The growth was driven largely by higher production levels and a steady increase in new orders.
According to the survey, the sector’s output index climbed to 59.6 points, while the employment and new orders indices stood at 54.4 and 56.3 points, respectively.
Out of the 17 industrial sub-sectors tracked, 13 reported expansion, showing broad-based growth within the sector. Although four sub-sectors recorded slight declines, the overall growth in manufacturing and related industries kept the sector firmly in expansion territory.
Services and agriculture sustain momentum
The services sector also maintained positive growth, recording 55.3 points and marking 13 straight months of growth. Increased business activity and a rise in new contracts were the main drivers of the expansion.
Within the sector, educational services posted the strongest growth, while professional and technical services were the only segment that recorded a contraction during the month.
Meanwhile, the agriculture sector registered a PMI of 56.5 points, extending its growth streak to 19 months. Four of the five agricultural sub-sectors recorded expansion, with crop production leading the gains.
However, the forestry sub-sector experienced a contraction during the period.
Stronger orders and improved supply chains
Several key operational indicators also improved in February. The new orders index rose to 56.8 points, indicating sustained demand for goods and services. As businesses responded to the increased demand, production levels climbed to 57.6 points.
Employment also improved, with the employment index rising to 54.2 points, implying that firms continued to hire additional staff to support rising workloads.
Supply chain performance showed improvement as well. The suppliers’ delivery time index increased to 58.0 points, indicating faster delivery of inputs to businesses compared with the previous month.
High costs are still a challenge
Despite the positive growth indicators, businesses still face elevated input costs.
The report showed that input price indices across industry, services, and agriculture remained higher than output price indices, denoting that companies are still absorbing part of the rising production costs rather than fully passing them on to consumers.
Broad-based growth across sectors
Across the economy, 30 out of 36 sub-sectors recorded expansion in February, reflecting widespread improvement in business conditions.
The primary metals sub-sector recorded the most notable decline during the month, but growth across other sectors ensured that the overall PMI remained firmly in expansion territory.
The CBN surveyed between February 9 and 13, 2026, collecting responses from about 1,900 business executives nationwide.
The results point to busy economic activity and suggest a strong start to the first quarter of 2026 for Nigeria’s economy.
