Nigeria’s pension funds grew by N2.12 trillion, representing 9.41 per cent in the first six months of 2025 to N24.63 trillion, the latest data from the National Pension Commission has revealed.
This compared to the same period of 2024, is a lower percentage growth, as pension funds rose 11.59 per cent or N2.13 trillion, 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 N24 trillion.
The customary government-backed instruments remained dominant despite 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.
However, the activities of pension fund administrators have been added to the rebased Gross Domestic Product, which brought Nigeria’s GDP to N372.82 trillion compared to N205.09 trillion in the base year 2019.