World Bank: Nigerian states’ revenues rise 93% but education’s share of spending falls

Nigerian subnational governments recorded a large increase in revenues between 2023 and 2025, but education’s share of their budgets has fallen, according to recent reporting of a World Bank assessment.

The World Bank found that the 36 states’ revenues rose 93% over the two-year period, a change flagged by multiple Nigerian outlets summarising the bank’s analysis. At the same time, the share of total expenditure allocated to education declined, the reports said.

What the data show

The 93% increase in state revenues between 2023 and 2025 was reported by Punch and Vanguard, which cited the World Bank’s findings. Both outlets highlighted the contrast between growing revenue and a shrinking education budget share.

Channels TV, citing the World Bank, provided additional detail on sector shares: it reported that education’s share of total state expenditure fell from 14.9% in 2021 to 12.1% in 2025. Channels also reported that health spending at the state level remained broadly stable at about 7% of total expenditure over the same timeframe. Channels further reported the World Bank’s estimate that Nigeria’s overall economic growth reached 4.2%, though that figure was not mentioned in the other summaries.

Why it matters

A substantial rise in subnational revenues could give states greater capacity to invest in services and infrastructure. However, the reported decline in the proportion of spending devoted to education suggests that growing resources have not translated into a larger fiscal priority for the sector.

The reported drop in education’s budget share — from 14.9% in 2021 to 12.1% in 2025, per Channels’ account of the World Bank data — could have implications for efforts to improve learning outcomes, school access and educational infrastructure, depending on how absolute spending levels and priorities evolve. Channels also noted that health’s share stayed near 7%, indicating relative stability for that sector’s proportion of state budgets.

Context and caveats

Multiple Nigerian news outlets summarised the World Bank’s assessment, and they agree on the headline finding of a 93% rise in state revenues between 2023 and 2025 and on a declining share for education. Specific sector-share figures and the national growth rate (4.2%) were reported by Channels TV’s coverage of the World Bank report; those numeric details were not provided in the summaries published by Punch and Vanguard.

The outlets cited the World Bank for the figures and trends; this article does not add analysis beyond those reported facts. Further detail on the composition of revenue growth, absolute spending levels for education and health, and the World Bank’s broader policy recommendations would require consulting the full World Bank report or the bank’s direct statements.