The World Bank has revised upward its growth outlook for Nigeria, projecting the country’s economy to expand by 4.4 per cent in 2026, up from the 3.7 per cent forecast released in June 2025.
The revised projection was contained in the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday. The Bretton Woods institution also upgraded Nigeria’s growth estimate for 2027 to 4.4 per cent from the earlier 3.8 per cent.
In addition, the bank estimated that Nigeria’s economy grew by 4.2 per cent in 2025, higher than the 3.6 per cent projection made in June last year.
At the global level, the World Bank raised its 2026 growth forecast to 2.6 per cent from 2.4 per cent, while estimating global growth of 2.7 per cent for 2025, compared with the 2.3 per cent earlier projected. Global growth for 2027 is expected to settle at 2.7 per cent, slightly above the 2.6 per cent forecast in June 2025.
According to the report, the global economy has shown more resilience than earlier anticipated despite ongoing trade tensions and policy uncertainty. However, the bank warned that growth remains uneven and concentrated in advanced economies, limiting its impact on poverty reduction.
“The resilience reflects better-than-expected growth — especially in the United States, which accounts for about two-thirds of the upward revision to the forecast in 2026,” the World Bank said.
The institution noted that while global growth is expected to slow in 2026 as trade-related gains fade, easing financial conditions and fiscal expansion should help cushion the impact. Inflation is projected to moderate to 2.6 per cent in 2026, with growth picking up in 2027 as trade and policy uncertainties ease.
Commenting on the outlook, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist, Indermit Gill, said the global economy is becoming increasingly less capable of generating strong growth, even as it appears more resilient to policy shocks.
“Economic dynamism and resilience cannot diverge for long without straining public finances and credit markets,” Gill said, warning that the world economy is on track to grow more slowly than in the troubled 1990s, while carrying record levels of public and private debt.
He urged governments in both emerging and advanced economies to liberalise private investment and trade, rein in public consumption, and increase investments in technology and education to avert stagnation and rising unemployment.
On sub-Saharan Africa, the World Bank projected regional growth to rise to 4.3 per cent in 2026 and 4.5 per cent in 2027.
The bank also said growth in developing economies is expected to slow to 4 per cent in 2026 from 4.2 per cent in 2025, before improving to 4.1 per cent in 2027 as trade tensions ease, commodity prices stabilise, financial conditions improve and investment flows strengthen.
Growth in low-income countries is projected to average 5.6 per cent in 2026–2027, supported by stronger domestic demand, recovering exports and easing inflationary pressures.
