Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa. The country’s re-emergent manufacturing sector became the largest on the continent in 2013, and it produces a large proportion of goods and services for the region of West Africa.[31] Nigerias debt-to-GDP ratio was 36.63% in 2021 according to the IMF.[21]
Nigerian GDP at purchasing power parity (PPP) has almost tripled from $170 billion in 2000 to $451 billion in 2012,[32][33][34] though estimates of the size of the informal sector (which is not included in official figures) put the actual numbers closer to $630 billion. Subsequently, the GDP per capita doubled from $1400 per person in 2000 to an estimated $2,800 per person in 2012. Again, with the inclusion of the informal sector, it is estimated that GDP per capita hovers around $3,900 per person.[35] The country’s population increased from 120 million in 2000 to 160 million in 2010. The GDP figures were to be revised upwards by as much as 80% when metrics were to be recalculated after the rebasing of its economy in April 2014.[36]
Although oil revenues contributed 2/3 of state revenues,[37] oil only contributes about 9% to the GDP. Nigeria produces only about 2.7% of the world’s oil supply. Although the petroleum sector is important, as government revenues still heavily rely on this sector, it remains a small part of the country’s overall economy.
The largely subsistence agricultural sector has not kept up with the country’s rapid population growth. Nigeria was once a large net exporter of food, but currently imports some of its food products. Mechanization has led to a resurgence in the manufacturing and exporting of food products, and there was consequently a move towards food sufficiency.[38] In 2006, Nigeria came to an agreement with the Paris Club to buy back the bulk of its owed debts from them, in exchange for a cash payment of roughly US$12 billion.[39]
According to a Citigroup report published in February 2011, Nigeria would have the highest average GDP growth in the world between 2010 and 2050.[40] Nigeria is one of two countries from Africa among the 11 Global Growth Gener
