THE Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has raised the alarm over the steep decline in overall industrial growth in Q2 2026, describing the sector as suffocating under severe structural headwinds.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Q2 2026 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report revealed an overall year-on-year real GDP growth rate of 4.43 percent, up from 3.89 percent in Q1 2026 and 4.23 percent in Q2 2025.
However, the growth trajectory remains disproportionately service-driven, 56.62 percent of GDP, while the broader industrial sector could only muster 17.23 percent of GDP.
The association noted that, while the overall year-on-year real GDP growth rate of 4.43 percent suggests economic resilience, the performance shows a widening disconnect between macroeconomic figures and real-sector vitality.
According to MAN, the Q22026 GDP performance serves as a reminder that sustainable national prosperity must be anchored on active domestic manufacturing, not just service consumption and extraction.
It attributed the rapid industrial erosion to electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply, which, it stated, recorded the sharpest contraction of -10.63 percent in Q2 2026.
MAN also noted that the drastic drop in manufacturing’s share of real GDP from 9.57 percent in Q1 2026, to 7.72 percent in Q2 2026, alongside a marginal decline in real manufacturing growth from 3.29 percent to3.24 percent, further compounded the decline.
It warned that headline GDP growth, driven by non-tradable service activities, would not strengthen foreign exchange reserves, reduce structural inflation, or create sustainable mass industrial jobs.
‘Therefore, Nigeria cannot sustain its growth momentum on services and extraction alone. A nation that trades and consumes what it does not produce builds prosperity on quicksand,’ it added.
The association added thatthe drop in manufacturing’scontribution to GDP from9.57 percent to 7.72 percentin a single quarter highlightssevere cost pressure, a highexchange rate, outrageousinterest rates and exorbitantelectricity tariffs facing domestic manufacturers.
On the implications for themanufacturing sector andthe economy, the associationwarned of employment fragility; since contraction inlabour-intensive sectors liketextiles and vehicle assembly,directly threatens wage employment and risks triggeringjob losses across lower- andmiddle-income demographics.
It expressed the belief that slow growth in basic consumer goods manufacturing, such as: Food and Beverages, signals supply-sideconstraints, which could perpetuate food inflation, undermine household real incomes and worsen the level of poverty.