Insurance and financial services in Nigeria
Nigeria: Insurance and financial services was 25.3% in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Insurance and financial services in Nigeria, 1977–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service exports.
Analysis
In 2025, insurance and financial services in Nigeria stood at 25.3%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 20.4% on the previous year and up 128.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, insurance and financial services in Nigeria peaked at 31.8% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2003.
Nigeria ranks 8th of 190 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Insurance and financial services in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 1.0% | — |
| 1978 | 5.0% | +401.1% |
| 1979 | 7.1% | +40.4% |
| 1980 | 6.6% | -6.7% |
| 1981 | 4.8% | -26.7% |
| 1982 | 3.7% | -24.5% |
| 1983 | 3.7% | +0.6% |
| 1984 | 4.1% | +10.6% |
| 1985 | 5.5% | +34.3% |
| 1986 | 1.1% | -79.6% |
| 1987 | 0.5% | -52.2% |
| 1988 | 2.5% | +377.3% |
| 1989 | 0.2% | -91.3% |
| 1990 | 0.3% | +28.4% |
| 1991 | 0.7% | +161.9% |
| 1992 | 1.1% | +50.2% |
| 1993 | 0.9% | -15.2% |
| 1994 | 0.4% | -54.8% |
| 1995 | 0.6% | +39.6% |
| 1996 | 0.3% | -54.6% |
| 1997 | 0.4% | +57.9% |
| 1998 | 0.4% | -1.1% |
| 1999 | 0.8% | +99.3% |
| 2000 | 0.8% | +0.5% |
| 2001 | 0.8% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 0.9% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 0.1% | -86.7% |
| 2004 | 0.2% | +47.0% |
| 2005 | 0.8% | +384.2% |
| 2006 | 0.6% | -23.1% |
| 2007 | 1.6% | +164.2% |
| 2008 | 0.8% | -49.0% |
| 2009 | 0.5% | -39.7% |
| 2010 | 0.6% | +12.8% |
| 2011 | 0.8% | +34.5% |
| 2012 | 0.6% | -17.3% |
| 2013 | 1.4% | +116.3% |
| 2014 | 2.4% | +76.8% |
| 2015 | 11.1% | +360.9% |
| 2016 | 10.1% | -9.0% |
| 2017 | 7.9% | -21.4% |
| 2018 | 17.6% | +121.3% |
| 2019 | 18.0% | +2.5% |
| 2020 | 26.9% | +49.4% |
| 2021 | 23.1% | -14.1% |
| 2022 | 20.7% | -10.3% |
| 2023 | 28.1% | +35.6% |
| 2024 | 31.8% | +13.3% |
| 2025 | 25.3% | -20.4% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 25.3% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 1.8%, 14.5× the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 25.3% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 3.3%, 7.6× the median. (45 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Insurance and financial services in Nigeria changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | +401.1% | 1.0% | 5.0% |
| 2005 | +384.2% | 0.2% | 0.8% |
| 1988 | +377.3% | 0.5% | 2.5% |
| 2015 | +360.9% | 2.4% | 11.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 4.4% | 1.0% | 7.1% | 3 |
| 1980s | 3.3% | 0.2% | 6.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 0.6% | 0.3% | 1.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.7% | 0.1% | 1.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 7.0% | 0.6% | 18.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 26.0% | 20.7% | 31.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
- 5 Sierra Leone 32.7% compare
- 6 Bahrain 31.3% compare
- 7 Hong Kong, China 26.9% compare
- 9 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 25.2% compare
- 10 Guinea-Bissau 21.6% compare
- 11 Switzerland 21.4% compare
More private sector data for Nigeria
- Merchandise trade 33.3% (2025)
- Food imports 11.0% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 46.0% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 41.45 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 6.0% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 3.5% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 55.47 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 233.52 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1907 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 4.03 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is insurance and financial services in Nigeria?
- Insurance and financial services in Nigeria was 25.3% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest insurance and financial services recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 31.8% in 2024.
- What is the lowest insurance and financial services recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2003.
- How does Nigeria rank for insurance and financial services?
- Nigeria ranks 8th out of 190 countries with data for 2025.
- Is insurance and financial services rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 128.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Nigeria data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Financial services covers services related to financial intermediation, financial risk management, liquidity transformation or auxiliary financial activities. It also includes insurance and pension scheme services which are services related to providing life insurance and annuities, non-life insurance, reinsurance, pensions, standardised guarantees and auxiliary services to insurance, pension schemes, and standardised guarantee schemes. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service exports which are commercial services provided by residents to non-residents.