28 total operational free zones span across 13 states plus the FCT, highlighting a broad but uneven distribution.
Lagos hosts 12 zones, over 40% of Nigeria’s total, making it the clear leader.
Ogun State ranks second with 3 zones, followed by Rivers with 2, while other states have just 1 each.
This distribution underscores a heavy clustering in the Southwest, reflecting Lagos’ dominance as a commercial hub and a drive to spread investment across various regions.
The South-South remitted ₦121.84B, making it one of the biggest net donors to the national VAT pool.
The region received only ₦52.49B, meaning it got back just 43% of its VAT contributions.
Rivers State alone remitted a staggering ₦90.21B (74% of the region’s total) but received only ₦11.01B (12.2% return), marking one of the worst VAT allocation disparities in Nigeria.
Cross River had the lowest VAT contribution (₦1.55B) but received ₦7.45B, a 380% gain, while Bayelsa, despite remitting ₦12.8B, received only ₦8.02B, less than lower-remitting states like Delta (₦9.05B).
Every state in the South-South received more than it remitted, except for Bayelsa and Rivers, with the latter being the only state to suffer a massive VAT deficit.
In December 2024, the top five states with the highest average kerosene prices were: Abuja (₦2,950.0), Akwa Ibom (₦2,538.3), Kaduna (₦2,510.6), Cross River (₦2,430.7), and Sokoto (₦2,400.1).
Abuja recorded the highest average price of kerosene in December 2024, while Borno state recorded the lowest price.
The price of kerosene per litre ranged from ₦1,520.4 to ₦2,950 across Nigerian states in December 2024.
The percentage difference in the price of kerosene across Nigeria states in December 2024 is approximately 63.9%.
In 2022, employees in Lagos, Rivers, and the FCT contributed ₦558.7 billion in PAYE tax, representing over half of the nation's total.
Lagos State alone accounted for ₦360.9 billion.
These figures underscore the tax contributions from Nigeria's key economic regions.
Data from Nigeria's National Bureau of Statisticsshows that the Federal Allocation Account Committee (FAAC) disbursed at least ₦32.8 trillion net to the 36 states and the FCT since 2011.
Five of Nigeria's oil-producing states — Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, and Lagos — have received 33.7% of the country's net federal allocation since 2011, with Delta State receiving the most. Kano, Katsina, Borno, Kaduna, and Ondo complete the top ten.
Between 2017 and 2020, Nigeria’s announced Foreign Direct Investment figures were highest in 2018. However, there have been significant differences between investment announcements and FDI inflow over the years. Here are the FDI announcements and FDI inflow from 2017 to 2020. A destination analysis shows that Bayelsa State leads investment destinations with 36% of the total investments.
States and the FCT accounted for ₦4.12 trillion — 19.98% of Nigeria's Total Domestic Debt and 12.45% of the Total Public Debt, with Lagos having the most outstanding debt of ₦507.4 billion — 12.3% of the Total Debt Stock by states and the FCT.
