The Federal Government of Nigeria has recorded a significant boost in company income tax collection, generating N2.78 trillion in the second quarter of 2025 according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Quarterly Performance Shows Strong Growth
The Q2 2025 CIT collection represents a substantial 40.27 per cent increase compared to the N1.98 trillion recorded in the first quarter of the same year. When measured against the same period in 2024, the revenue shows a 12.66 per cent growth, indicating positive momentum in tax collection efficiency and corporate performance.
The breakdown reveals that domestic companies contributed N2.31 trillion to the total CIT revenue, while foreign corporate entities paid N469.36 billion during the review period. This distribution highlights the significant role of local businesses in the nation's tax ecosystem.
Sectoral Analysis Reveals Mixed Performance
The financial and insurance sector emerged as the clear leader in CIT contributions, accounting for 44.13 per cent of the total collection. This represents a 26.03 per cent improvement over its Q1 2025 performance. The sector also recorded an impressive 772.29 per cent growth rate on a quarter-on-quarter basis, the highest among all sectors.
Manufacturing maintained its position as the second-largest contributor with 15.57 per cent share, though this marked a slight decline from the 16.69 per cent recorded in the first quarter. Mining and quarrying, while still among the top three performers, experienced a significant drop from 22.10 per cent in Q1 to 9.18 per cent in Q2.
Other sectors showing remarkable growth include wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles with 538.38 per cent increase, and activities of households as employers with 526.79 per cent growth.
Challenges in Manufacturing and Real Sector
Despite the overall positive revenue performance, the manufacturing sector continues to face significant challenges. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria recently reported that unsold inventory in the manufacturing sector rose to N1.04 trillion in the first half of 2025.
This represents a 16.05 per cent increase from the N896.2 billion recorded in the second half of 2024. MAN Director General Segun Ajayi-Kadir described this development as alarming during the presentation of the Q3 2025 Manufacturers CEO's Confidence Index.
Ajayi-Kadir attributed the inventory buildup to low government patronage of locally made products and persistent macroeconomic pressures that continue to constrain industrial productivity. This situation underscores the heightened challenges facing the real sector despite its contribution to tax revenue.
Meanwhile, some sectors recorded negative growth, with activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies declining by 45.01 per cent, followed by education and public administration with decreases of 26.61 per cent and 18.17 per cent respectively.
