Nigeria's trade in services (% of GDP) was 8.49% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 3.87 percentage points from 4.62% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 8.49% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 3.98% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 4.62% | 2015 |
| Highest | 11.42% | 1977 |
| Lowest | 0.66% | 1998 |
| Average since 2016 | 5.79% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 11.42% | 1977 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Nigeria's trade in services (% of GDP) fell 0.42 percentage points on 2024 (from 8.92% to 8.49%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.16 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 6.87 percentage points in 1999 and the biggest yearly fall was 6.37 percentage points in 1981. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 7% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Nigeria had the 118th highest value of the 135 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 8.49% | 2025 |
| World | 15.19% | 2025 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 10.77% | 2024 |
| Lower middle income | 14.03% | 2025 |
Closest to Nigeria in the 2025 ranking
- South Africa — 114th of 135: 9.32%
- Kazakhstan — 115th of 135: 8.76%
- Colombia — 116th of 135: 8.74%
- Ecuador — 118th of 135: 8.11%
- Mexico — 119th of 135: 7.89%
- Tajikistan — 120th of 135: 7.43%
What this measures
Total trade in services includes services provided by residents to non-residents plus services provided by non-residents to residents. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 49 values
| Year | Trade in services (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 8.49 |
| 2024 | 8.92 |
| 2023 | 4.54 |
| 2022 | 3.66 |
| 2021 | 3.29 |
| 2020 | 3.98 |
| 2019 | 6.53 |
| 2018 | 8.47 |
| 2017 | 6.2 |
| 2016 | 3.83 |
| 2015 |
Trade in services (% of GDP) in nearby economies
- Angola — 7.02% (2025)
- Benin — 10.17% (2023)
- Botswana — 11.79% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 9.09% (2024)
- Burundi — 16.48% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 42.18% (2025)
- Cameroon — 7.9% (2024)
- Comoros — 21.95% (2023)
- Congo, Dem. Rep. — 6.11% (2025)
- Congo, Rep. — 13.13% (2021)
- Côte d'Ivoire — 9.01% (2024)
More economic policy & debt data for Nigeria
- Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$46.02 billion (2025)
- Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$43.01 billion (2025)
- GDP (current US$) — US$290.79 billion (2025)
- GDP (current LCU) — 441.54 trillion (2025)
- GDP (constant 2015 US$) — US$562.59 billion (2025)
- GDP (constant LCU) — 226.52 trillion (2025)
- GDP per capita (current US$) — US$1,224 (2025)
- GDP per capita (current LCU) — 1.86 million (2025)
- GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) — US$2,369 (2025)
- GDP per capita (constant LCU) — 953,654 (2025)
- GDP (annual % growth)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Nigeria's trade in services (% of GDP)?
- 8.49% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1977?
- It is down 2.93 percentage points from 11.42% in 1977. The highest value was 11.42% in 1977 and the lowest 0.66% in 1998.
- How does Nigeria rank?
- 118th highest of 135 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in trade in services (% of GDP) unusual for Nigeria?
- In 2025, Nigeria's trade in services (% of GDP) fell 0.42 percentage points on 2024 (from 8.92% to 8.49%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.16 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator BG.GSR.NFSV.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Development Indicators Database, World Bank (WB); National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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