The National Bureau of Statistics reports the segment expanded 10.38% year on year in Q2 2026, up from 7.39% in the same quarter of 2025. Measured at 2019 constant prices, the activity accounted for 9.72% of real GDP while the overall economy grew 4.43% year on year, up from 4.23% in Q2 2025. The telecoms segment therefore expanded at more than twice the pace of the wider economy.
At the broader Information and Communication level, which bundles telecommunications with broadcasting, motion pictures, sound recording and publishing, real growth reached 9.62% year on year. Nominal growth for that broader sector accelerated to 45.32% year on year. Together the four activities within the sector generated about ₦6.28 trillion in real output, with telecommunications and information services accounting for more than four-fifths of that total.
Rising demand for data underpins the surge. Reported data revenue rose 59.9% to $263 million, while voice revenue increased 42.6% to $191 million. Reported EBITDA climbed 58.4% to $293 million and the reported EBITDA margin improved to 58.6%. Airtel Nigeria expanded its customer base 12% to 60.1 million subscribers, with data customers increasing 11% to 32.5 million. The Nigerian Communications Commission said Nigerians were consuming about 45,800 terabytes of data every day in May 2026, highlighting rapidly growing internet use.
Publishing remains a tiny part of the mix, generating ₦8.55 billion in real output and contributing 0.02% to real GDP; its real growth was 1.90% even as nominal output jumped 159.29% to ₦29.10 billion. The sector’s overall expansion coincides with stronger financial results from leading operators, rising data consumption and billions of naira in network investment as carriers increase capacity.
Expect continued investment cycles as operators scale infrastructure to meet demand, and a growing policy and market focus on telecoms given its nearly one-tenth share of real GDP and the sector’s outsized growth relative to the economy.
