Nigeria’s tax collections have surged by 113 per cent in less than three years, rising from N12.3tn in 2023 to N27.1tn as of July 2026, the Nigeria Revenue Service has said.
The revenue authority attributed the sharp increase to the digitisation of the tax system, the enactment of four new tax reform laws, the transformation of the revenue service and an executive order aimed at closing loopholes in the tax system.
The NRS, in an internal report on the state of the Nigerian economy obtained by The PUNCH on Sunday, insisted that the country was moving from a period of severe macroeconomic distress towards a more stable and resilient economy following the implementation of a series of difficult reforms by the President Bola Tinubu administration.
“Tax collections more than doubled from N12.3tn in 2023 to N27.1tn as of July 2026 with the “digitisation of tax systems, four new tax reform laws, the transformation of the revenue service and an executive order that closed loopholes in the system.
“The Nigerian economy has moved decisively from acute macroeconomic distress toward a more stable and increasingly resilient footing,” the revenue service said.
The NRS attributed the development to what it described as Tinubu’s economic management acumen and determination to implement reforms under his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to the report, the administration inherited four major economic distortions which had continued to undermine government revenue and economic growth.
It identified the challenges as “a fiscally unsustainable fuel subsidy regime, an opaque forex system that discouraged investment, a non-performing oil sector, and a tax base ‘far below its potential’.”
The revenue authority said the initial impact of the reforms created significant economic difficulties but maintained that the country’s major economic indicators had subsequently begun to improve.
It cited falling inflation, a turnaround in the balance of payments, increased crude oil production, the emergence of Nigeria as a net exporter of petroleum products and the more than doubling of tax collections as evidence of the recovery.
The report also highlighted an increase in the minimum wage, saying it had doubled between 2023 and 2026.
It further cited estimates by the United Nations Children’s Fund showing that the number of out-of-school children had declined from 20 million to 18.3 million following government policies and incentives.
The NRS said the government’s naira-for-crude arrangement with the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other domestic refineries had contributed to a major shift in Nigeria’s petroleum trade position.
According to the report, the arrangement had helped Nigeria move from being a net importer of petroleum products to becoming a net exporter after decades of dependence on imports.
It noted that Ghana had recently decided to pursue a similar policy in its petroleum sector. The report also said crude oil production had increased from about 1.2 million-1.3 million barrels per day in 2023 to 1.73 million barrels per day by July 2026.
It said the latest output was equivalent to 104 per cent of Nigeria’s OPEC quota. The increase in production is significant for government revenue because crude oil remains the country’s largest source of foreign exchange and a major contributor to public finances.
The NRS also pointed to developments in the capital market as another indication of improving economic confidence. It said the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange had risen from N30.36tn in 2023 to N161tn in 2026, describing the increase as a source of wealth creation for millions of Nigerians who invest in the stock market.
