Nigeria’s pension funds grew by N2.12tn, or 9.41 per cent in the first six months of 2025 to N24.63tn, the latest data from the National Pension Commission has revealed.

Compared to the same period of 2024, this is a lower percentage growth, as pension funds rose 11.59 per cent or N2.13tn, in the corresponding period last year.

The figure includes all approved existing schemes, closed pension fund administrators, and retirement savings account funds, as well as unremitted contributions.

Pension funds have consistently grown this year, rising month on month, with the highest percentage growth recorded in May when it crossed N24tn.

As has been the trend, the appetite for government-backed instruments remained strong even as there had been calls for the inclusion of investment in alternative assets by pension fund administrators.

As of June 2024, total Federal Government-backed securities (FGN bonds, treasury bills, Sukuk, agency bonds, and green bonds) stood at N15.19tn, followed by corporate debt securities at N2.26tn, then money market instruments cornered N2.24tn, and mutual funds stood at N183.82bn.

Within the period under review, Retirement Savings Accounts grew by 214,563 new accounts (2.03 per cent) to stand at 10,796,862 compared to 10,582,299 as of December 2024. The Nigeria Labour Force Report Statistics for 2024-Q2 reported that 76.1 per cent of Nigeria’s working-age population (15 years and above) was employed, up from 73.1 per cent in Q1 2024. With a projected total labour force in Nigeria of about 78.14 million according to Statista as of 2024, the number of RSAs shows a wide gap.

Meanwhile, the activities of pension fund administrators have been added to the rebased Gross Domestic Product, which brought Nigeria’s GDP to N372.82tn compared with N205.09tn in the base year 2019.

Real GDP growth was 3.13 per cent YoY in Q1 2025, up from 2.27 per cent in Q1 2024.

Speaking with The PUNCH earlier, the Head of Financial Institution Ratings at Agusto&Co, Ayokunle Olubunmi, said that the rebasing will bring more scrutiny into the pension sector and encourage improved participation.

He said, “Since 2004, when the new Pension Act commenced operations, you will see that the pension industry has grown significantly, with assets under management exceeding N21tn, and you will also see that activities in the investment space, particularly in the bonds market, have been supported by the pension industry, and it has been an aberration that we didn’t even capture what was going on with the PFAs space in the GDP. What this will do is give us a better picture of the financial sector. Hitherto, significant financial activities have been excluded from the GDP. With the rebasing, the financial sector will be better captured in the GDP, which will increase the size of the financial sector and bring more light to what’s happening in the pension space.”

Associate Professor at Lagos State University, Dr. Olufemi Abass, in his comments, said it was a welcome development.

He said, “I think it makes a lot of sense to include pension activities in the rebased GDP. One thing you should know is that we cannot underestimate the importance of pensions, not even now that pensions are contributory, unlike before when we had the defined benefits scheme that was solely done by the employers.

“Contributory pension involves elements of investment, and to me, including it in the rebased GDP is a welcome development.”