Lagos Generates More IGR Than 22 States Combined in 2025 — NBS

Lagos State generated more Internally Generated Revenue in 2025 than 22 Nigerian states combined, highlighting the wide disparity in revenue-generating capacity among the country's subnational governments. According to the National Bureau of Statistics' 2025 Internally Generated Revenue report, Lagos recorded ₦1.77 trillion in internally generated revenue during the year, the highest figure recorded by any state or the Federal Capital Territory. By comparison, the 22 states at the lower end of the NBS ranking collectively generated ₦909.35 billion. The difference means Lagos generated about ₦859.85 billion more than the combined IGR of those 22 states. Lagos accounts for a large share of state-generated revenue The NBS report showed that the 36 states and the FCT generated a combined ₦5.149 trillion in IGR in 2025. That represented a 40.93 per cent increase from the ₦3.65 trillion recorded in 2024. Lagos alone accounted for a substantial portion of the total, with its ₦1.77 trillion placing it significantly ahead of the other jurisdictions. Rivers ranked second with ₦428.42 billion, followed by Enugu with ₦406.77 billion. The Federal Capital Territory recorded ₦356.34 billion, while Ogun generated ₦252.36 billion. Other jurisdictions among the higher revenue generators included Delta with ₦202.49 billion, Edo with ₦132.21 billion, Oyo with ₦103.25 billion, Kano with ₦102.26 billion and Akwa Ibom with ₦100.80 billion. 22 states record less than ₦65bn each The NBS figures show a substantial gap between Lagos and states at the lower end of the revenue table. Katsina recorded ₦64.29 billion, while Ondo generated ₦60.32 billion. Cross River and Ekiti recorded ₦58.64 billion and ₦57.09 billion respectively. Anambra generated ₦57.03 billion, followed by Osun with ₦56.84 billion and Bauchi with ₦52.79 billion. Bayelsa recorded ₦50.30 billion, while Plateau generated ₦45.10 billion. Gombe and Kogi recorded ₦43.96 billion and ₦43.94 billion respectively, while Imo generated ₦43.65 billion. Further down the table were Borno with ₦36.36 billion, Adamawa with ₦33.76 billion and Nasarawa with ₦32.57 billion. Kebbi generated ₦31.23 billion, Zamfara ₦30.07 billion and Benue ₦29.57 billion. Taraba recorded ₦28.16 billion, while Sokoto generated ₦20.48 billion. Ebonyi recorded ₦17.18 billion and Yobe was at the bottom with ₦16.01 billion. Collectively, these 22 states generated approximately ₦909.35 billion. Taxes make up most of states' internally generated revenue The NBS report also provided a breakdown of the sources of the revenue generated by the states and the FCT. Of the ₦5.149 trillion generated in 2025, tax revenue accounted for ₦3.79 trillion, while revenue from Ministries, Departments and Agencies contributed ₦1.36 trillion. Pay-As-You-Earn tax was the largest individual tax source, generating ₦2.64 trillion. Withholding tax followed with ₦503.46 billion, while other taxes contributed ₦300.21 billion. Direct assessment generated ₦112.65 billion, while stamp duties contributed ₦111.57 billion. Road taxes accounted for ₦49.88 billion and capital gains tax generated ₦12.40 billion. The figures show the important role of taxation in the revenue base of Nigeria's subnational governments, although the scale of internally generated revenue varies considerably from one state to another. Lagos has consistently led the revenue table Lagos's position at the top of the state IGR rankings is not new. Earlier NBS data showed that Lagos generated ₦651.15 billion in 2022, compared with ₦172.82 billion from Rivers, which ranked second that year. The state also retained the top position in 2024, when the NBS reported Lagos IGR of approximately ₦1.26 trillion. The 36 states and FCT generated ₦3.6 trillion collectively that year. The latest figures therefore continue a pattern in which Lagos remains the country's largest state-level internally generated revenue source. Revenue growth does not mean all states are financially independent The increase in IGR across the states comes alongside continued dependence on federal transfers for many subnational governments. A recent BudgIT-based analysis published by PUNCH found that 26 states covered by its assessment generated less IGR than their personnel expenditure in 2025. The analysis also found that aggregate allocations from the Federation Account remained a major source of state revenue. That analysis excluded Rivers and Akwa Ibom because of incomplete or unavailable data, meaning its figures should not be directly substituted for the NBS's nationwide IGR report. The wider picture is therefore one of rising internally generated revenue alongside significant differences in the fiscal capacity of individual states. Lagos figure differs in another recent analysis There is also a difference between the Lagos figure reported in the latest NBS-based PUNCH story and another recent analysis. A September 2026 PUNCH report based on BudgIT's state-finance analysis put Lagos's 2025 IGR at approximately ₦1.85 trillion. That report used a different dataset and methodology from the NBS report. The NBS figure used in the latest report is ₦1.77 trillion and is the appropriate figure for this story because the comparison with the 22 states is specifically derived from the NBS 2025 IGR report. The difference illustrates why figures from different fiscal datasets should not be combined without checking their underlying methodology and reporting periods. Wide gap remains among states The latest NBS figures demonstrate the scale of the difference in revenue generation across Nigeria's 36 states and the FCT. While Lagos generated ₦1.77 trillion on its own, the 22 states at the lower end of the ranking collectively generated less than ₦1 trillion. Rivers and Enugu, which ranked second and third respectively, also recorded significantly higher revenues than most states, with ₦428.42 billion and ₦406.77 billion respectively. The figures provide a snapshot of the varying capacity of Nigerian states to raise revenue internally and also show why fiscal sustainability remains an important issue for subnational governments. For Lagos, the 2025 result further extends its position at the top of Nigeria's state IGR rankings. For many other states, the data underscores the substantial gap between their internally generated revenue and that of the country's leading revenue-generating jurisdiction.