Companies operating in Nigeria paid 31% less in corporate tax in Q1 2026 than they did a year earlier — and the data shows exactly which sectors are driving the decline.
In the first quarter of 2026, 13 of 21 sectors recorded a year-on-year decline in Company Income Tax. Construction shed more than half its contribution. Agriculture fell 40.8% — in the same quarter a new tax law promised relief for new entrants in the sector. Mining dropped 39.4%, reversing a surge that had made it the second-largest CIT contributor through 2024 and 2025. Manufacturing, historically one of Nigeria's largest corporate taxpayers, fell 31% and has now lost nearly 9 percentage points of share since 2020.
The overall decline also coincides with the first quarter of the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, effective January 1, 2026. Whether the new regime is driving the fall, or whether it reflects deeper profit compression across the economy, will only become clear when Q2 2026 data is available.





