We present to you the latest list of the top 10 richest states in Nigeria as of 2021/2022 and their current worth.
Have you ever wondered how rich your state is?
The economy of Nigeria has had a series of highs and lows during the last decade, with a few states performing better than others.
Before adding them to our list of the top 10 richest states, we chose the states with the most wealth based on a few parameters.
Identifying which state has the most wealth isn’t as difficult as it may appear.
Everything is determined by the residents’ income, as well as the revenue received by the municipal and state governments.
We’ve compiled a list of the richest states in Nigeria, including their Gross Domestic Product, governmental activities, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and more. We’ve written about each of the 36 states and capital in Nigeria. You should check it out.
The method we used to rank the states included considering states with the highest household unit income as the primary element in determining the richness of the state.
We’ve also listed the states with the highest property prices, gross domestic product per capita, internally generated revenues, and annual government budgets.
We also looked at expenditures, completed projects, and the amount of taxes paid to the state per person to get a general picture of the state’s wealth.
List of Top Ten Richest States In Nigeria 2021/2022
As per these statistics, these are the top ten richest states in Nigeria.
List of top ten richest states 2021 | ||
---|---|---|
Rank | States | Gross Domestic Product |
#1 | Lagos State | $29 billion |
#2 | Rivers State | $19 billion |
#3 | Delta State | $16 billion |
#4 | Oyo State | $15 billion |
#5 | Imo State | $14.1 billion |
#6 | Kano State | $12.4 billion |
#7 | Edo State | $11.8 billion |
#8 | Akwa Ibom State | $11.1 million |
#9 | Ogun State | $10.4 billion |
#10 | Kaduna State | $9.3 billion |

Lagos State (GDP: $29 Billion)
Which is the richest state in Nigeria today? Lagos is currently the richest state in Nigeria. This answer is quite obvious and well known to the majority of Nigerians today.
It is dubbed the “Center for Excellence” since it is where the majority of Nigeria’s commercial activity takes place.
The city is also one of the world’s fastest-growing. This is primarily due to the higher likelihood of beginning firms succeeding.
Lagos State, being Africa’s primary financial center, contributes 10% of Nigeria’s annual GDP and has the continent’s fourth-largest GDP as a metropolis.
These figures are increased further by the fact that the state is home to Nigeria’s major seaports.
All of these attractions alone are enough to not only make the list of the richest states in Nigeria, but Nigeria’s richest state.
- Year of creation: 1967
- GDP: $29 Billion
- IGR: $11 Billion
- Government budget yearly: N1. 17 trillion
- Government expenditures: N873 Billion
- Projects:
Rivers State (GDP: $19 Billion)
Anyone who has traveled around the country knows that Rivers State is another buzzing commercial haven in Nigeria.
It’s capital, Port Harcourt is the most significant economically as it is the base of oil companies in Nigeria.
The state is water locked as it is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean which makes it easy for foreign trades, exchange, and investments.
The ocean also serve as a transportation means for exports and imports in the state especially oil and gas products through its huge ports.
Rivers state is one of the few states blessed with huge oil reserves and natural resources, qualifying it to be among the richest states in Nigeria.
Interestingly, Rivers state took N172 Billion as FAAC allocation in 2018, making it the third state with the highest FAAC allocation that year.
This natural resource input to the state’s growth and development cannot be overstated.
It is also Nigeria’s major oil producer with an output of about 60%. Other minerals are available in the state which also help its economy are silica sand, glass sand, and clay.
- Year of creation: 1967
- GDP: $19 Billion
- IGR: $7 billion
- Government budgets yearly: N480 Billion
- Government expenditures: N274 Billion
- Projects: Agriculture, Education, Housing
- Year of creation: 1967
- GDP: $19 Billion
- IGR: $7 billion
- Government budgets yearly: N480 Billion
- Government expenditures: N274 Billion
- Projects: Agriculture, Education, Housing
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Delta State (GDP: $16 Billion)
Delta State is next on this list of the richest states in Nigeria. Delta is well-known in Nigeria for its oil and agricultural production.
Delta state has vast crude oil deposits, making it one of Nigeria’s top manufacturers of petroleum products.
These petroleum products provide a significant boost to the state’s economy, which comes as no surprise.
Aside from agriculture, the state has a wealth of mineral reserves, including industrial clay, silica, lignite, kaolin, tar sand, ornamental rocks, limestone, and so on.
Large businesses use these minerals as raw materials for brick, ceramics, bottle production, glass, chemical/insulators, chalk and sanitary wares, as well as decorative stone cutting and quarrying.
They can, however, do better with all of the mineral riches they have.
The River Ethiope, the Araya Bible site, Mungo Park House, Niger Bridge, and Falcorp Mangrove Park are all tourist attractions in the state.
Did you know that Alex Iwobi, one of the richest footballers in Nigeria, hails from Delta state? You are now aware.
- Year of creation: 1991
- GDP: $16 Billion
- IGR: N36 billion
- Government budgets yearly: N390 Billion
- Government expenditures: N210 Billion
- Projects: Agriculture, Roads and Infrastructure
Oyo State (GDP: $15 Billion)
I don’t know about you, but this is one mention that took me by surprise.
This is due to the general perception people have about the state due to the local feel the state has to it like its poor road conditions, presence of ancient buildings, and so on.
But then comes the adage which says to never judge a book by its cover.
Agriculture and handicrafts are the mainstay of the economy in Oyo state. The economy of Oyo is based chiefly on agriculture and handicrafts.
Agricultural products include yams, corn (maize), cassava (manioc), beans, millet, plantains, tobacco, cacao, palm oil and palm kernels, cotton, kola nuts, indigo, and fruits.
The state’s cottage industry is also massive and one of a kind. Their operations include cotton spinning, weaving, dyeing, leatherworking (sheep and goat skins), wood carving, and mat making.
The state is home to a host of Industries, examples of which are a cannery, a brewery, a publishing industry, a tobacco-processing factory, wood- and steel-furniture factory, and a motor-vehicle assembly plant.
Ibadan is the site of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, and the Federal Agricultural Research Institute.
- Year of creation: 1976
- GDP: $15 Billion
- IGR: N32.4 Billion
- Government budgets yearly: N282 Billion
- Government expenditures: N208 Billion
- Projects: Education, Agriculture and Infrastructure
Imo State (GDP: $14.1 Billion)
Imo State is the fifth state on our list of richest states in Nigeria. Imo is bounded to the east of the Niger River.
Did you know that two of the top 10 richest men in Nigeria is from Imo state?
The majority of the state’s original tropical rain forest vegetation has been depleted, which paved the way to more open areas of the oil-palm plantation which is one of its biggest sources of income.
Imo state is generally occupied by the Igbo (Ibo) people and is a densely populated area in Nigeria.
Agriculture is also the main occupation of people living in this state and they produce crops such as; yams, taro, corn (maize), rice, and cassava (manioc) are the staple crops, and oil palm is the main cash crop.
Imo is also one of the chief onshore petroleum-producing areas in the country though it has not been exploited to its full capacity.
Owerri, the state capital, is an industrial and educational centre that manufactures beverages, galvanized sheet-iron, leather products, and soap.
- Year of creation: 1976
- GDP: $14.1 Billion
- IGR: N10.3 Billion
- Government budgets yearly: N276 Billion
- Government expenditures: N214 Billion
- Projects: Roads and Infrastructure
Kano State (GDP $12.4 Billion)
The first state on this list of richest states in Nigeria is Kano state which comes as no surprise.
Aside from the fact that it is one of the first states that come to mind when thinking of northern states, in theory, it is also the richest Hausa state in Nigeria.
Kano State is the second-largest industrial centre, second only to Lagos State and the largest in Northern Nigeria with textile, tanning, footwear, cosmetics, plastics, enamelware, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, furniture and other industries.
Other main products include soft drinks, food and beverages, dairy products, vegetable oil and animal products.
- Year of creation: 1967
- GDP: $12.4 Billion
- IGR: $18.3 Billion
- Government budgets yearly: N219 Billion
- Government expenditures: N179 Billion
- Projects: Infrastructure and Agriculture
Edo State (GDP: $11.8 Billion)
Benin City the capital has a history of being one of the foremost destinations of Europeans during their exploration of the African continent many centuries ago.
Some of the flash points have remained tourists attractions for the state.
Edo joins a host of states whose economy relies majorly on agricultural produce.
Yams, cassava (manioc), oil palm, rice, and corn (maize) are the major crops, while rubber, timber, and palm oil and kernels are cash crops.
Natural raw materials include limestone and lignite which are supplied to Industries in the state which produce pharmaceuticals, rubber, plywood, beer, sawn wood, and furniture.
- Year of creation: 1991
- GDP: $11.89 Billion
- IGR: N15 Billion
- Government budgets yearly: N184 Billion
- Government expenditures: N175 Billion
- Projects: Education and Infrastructure, security
Akwa Ibom State ($11.1 Billion)
The state was made in 1987 by Ibrahim Babangida from the previous Cross River State and is presently the most noteworthy oil-and gas-creating state in the nation.
It would be a gross mix-up excluding this states from the richest states in Nigeria because of this reality alone.
The state’s population comprises fundamentally of Ibibio people groups who raise yams, rice, cowpeas, corn (maize), and cassava for subsistence and oil palms and cocoa as cash crops. Poultry, pigs, sheep, goats, and hares are raised.
Shrimping along the coast and remote ocean angling are likewise monetarily significant.
The state’s mineral assets incorporate lignite stores and offshore oil fields.
The inland city of Uyo is the state capital and is the site of a university (established 1983). Oron is the site of a museum of ethnography, established in 1959.
- Year of creation: 1987
- GDP: $11.1 Billion
- IGR: N20 Billion
- Government budgets yearly: N672 Billion
- Government expenditures: N598 Billion
- Projects: Education, Internal Roads, King’s Flour mills, Rice processing mill, Military schools
Ogun State (GDP: 10.47 Billion)
It will be a mistake if the state that is in the closest proximity to the richest states in Nigeria, Lagos is not among the list of the richest states in Nigeria.
Agriculture is the major income source for Ogun State economy.
They produce rice, corn (maize), cassava (manioc), yams, plantains, and bananas. Cocoa, kola nuts, rubber, palm oil and palm kernels, tobacco, cotton, and timber are the main cash crops.
The quarries available in Abeokuta, the state capital, manufactures building material for major parts southern Nigeria.
Natural deposits include limestone, chalk, phosphates, and clay. Industries produce cement, canned foods, foam rubber, paint, tires, carpets, aluminum products, and plastics.
- Year of creation: 1976
- GDP: $10.47 Billion
- IGR: N29.6 Billion
- Government budgets yearly: N402 Billion
- Government expenditures: N384 Billion
- Projects: Roads, Railways, Education and Infrastructure
Kaduna State (GDP: $9.3 Billion)
The final state on our list of richest states in Nigeria is none other than Kaduna states.
Since the late 1950s, Kaduna has been a significant mechanical, business, and money related place for the northern states of Nigeria. It has a part of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Most industries are gathered south of the Kaduna River close to the principle railway intersection.
The city has cotton-textile turning and weaving mills; knit fabrics are likewise created in Kaduna.
The nourishment business produces brew, soft beverages, heated products, and processed meat.
Light produces incorporate calfskin products, plastics, earthenware production, pharmaceuticals, furniture, and TVs; and there are a few printing and distributing firms.
The city’s overwhelming industries make steel and aluminum items, concrete, asbestos concrete, solid squares, electrical engines, weapons, and explosives.
There are a steel-rolling plant, an automobile assembly factory, and an oil refinery (supplied by an oil pipeline from the Niger Delta oil fields). A petrochemical plant started activities in the mid-1980s.
- Year of creation: 1967
- GDP: $9.3 Billion
- IGR: N22 Billion
- Government budgets yearly: N155 Billion
- Government expenditures: N114 Billion
- Projects: Kaduna Cab Scheme, Modernization of Primary Health Center, Biometric Verification, Zaria Water Project, UAC Shopping Mall, Kaduna Geographic Information System., Textile Stimulus Package, Pampaida Millenium Village.
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Richest States In Nigeria (Conclusion)
When most people think about determining the wealthiest states, the first thing that springs to mind is to look at how much money people make.
However, no single number fully explains why a state is considered one of the “richest.”
So, we looked at the lists of criteria given in this article, such as GDP, IGR, and Government expenditures, to come up with a final ranking of the richest states in Nigeria today.
If your state does not appear on this list, don’t take it personally.
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