The federal government generated N2.78 trillion from company income tax (CIT) in the second quarter of 2025, driven by the financial services sector.

The figure is a 40.27 per cent rise over the N1.98 trillion generated in Q1 2025 and 12.66 per cent higher than the figure for Q2 2024.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its Q2 2025 company income tax report, noted that the domestic CIT received was N2.31trillion, while foreign CIT payments were N469.36 billion in Q2 2025.

The report said on a quarter-on-quarter basis, Financial and insurance activities recorded the highest growth rate with 772.29 per cent; followed by wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, and activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use with 538.38 per cent and 526.79 per cent, respectively.

On the other hand, activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies recorded the least, with –45.01 per cent, followed by education and public administration and defence, and compulsory social security, with –26.61 per cent and –18.17 per cent, respectively.

In terms of sectoral contributions, the top three activities with the highest contributions in Q2 2025 were Financial and insurance activities with 44.13 per cent, a 26.03 per cent rise over its Q1 2025 performance; Manufacturing with 15.57 per cent, a 1.12 per cent drop from the 16.69 per cent it recorded in Q1 2015. Mining and quarrying, though still ranked among top three performers, actually declined heavily from 22.10 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 to 9.18 per cent in the second quarter.

Contrarily, household activities as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use, and water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities recorded the least share with 0.01 per cent each, followed by activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies.

This low contribution of the real sector to company income tax underscores the heightened challenges facing the sector.

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) recently reported that the gross value of unsold inventory in the manufacturing sector rose to N1.04 trillion in the first half of 2025, representing a 16.05 per cent increase from N896.2 billion recorded in the second half of 2024.

Presenting the findings of the Q3 2025 Manufacturers CEO’s Confidence Index and the 2025 MAN Think Tank Report, the Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, described the development as alarming, attributing it to low government patronage of locally made products and persistent macroeconomic pressures that continue to constrain industrial productivity.