Nigeria’s telecom sector recorded one of its strongest performances in recent years, with new national data showing growth across the industry and the economy.
The National Bureau of Statistics revealed that the sector grew by 21.49% in the third quarter of 2025, a break from the long period of slow growth the industry faced in previous years.
The economy also strengthened as real GDP rose by 3.98% year-on-year, slightly above the 3.86% recorded in Q3 2024. Reports link the improvement to the ongoing GDP rebasing exercise and the policy changes introduced since last year, including the fuel subsidy removal and the liberalised exchange rate.
Services were the country’s main economic engine. The sector accounted for 53.02% of economic output, an increase from 52.93% a year earlier. Telecoms sit within this category and contributed ₦7.47 trillion, showing a rebound as demand for data surged and tariff adjustments took effect.
Driving the growth, operators expanded their customer base, with Nigeria’s mobile subscriptions climbing past 220 million in 2025. MTN led the market with 87.5 million users, representing 51.7% share, while Airtel followed with 57.6 million subscribers and 34.1% share.
Investment has also picked up. Operators have been pushing more fibre into cities and preparing for wider 5G rollout. From what I’ve seen, this has helped steady the industry at a time when many sectors are struggling with rising costs and tight consumer spending.
The growth fed directly into company earnings. MTN and Airtel jointly reported ₦5.16 trillion in revenue over the first nine months of the year. MTN moved from a ₦514.9 billion loss to a ₦750.2 billion profit, while Airtel posted $376 million in profit after recording foreign-exchange gains.
Stronger profits mean higher tax obligations, which could provide a timely increase to federal revenue in 2025. This aligns with the outlook shared earlier by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, who said the digital economy could generate $18.3 billion by 2026. “The digital economy could generate up to $18.3 billion by 2026,” he said.
Beyond Nigeria’s telecom sector itself, the new data point to a structural change in the economy. The non-oil sector now accounts for more than 96% of national output, underlining Nigeria’s gradual move away from crude oil dependence.
Telecoms, with their expanding subscriber base and more investment, are becoming one of the pillars of this transition.
Telecoms are no longer just a supporting segment. They are helping build the country’s economic direction, driving growth, improving tax revenue prospects, and building the backbone for the digital economy Nigeria wants to scale by 2030.
