Health spending is an important part of how state governments provide public services. BudgIT’s H1 2026 Health Expenditure Performance by State examines how much Nigerian states spent on health in the first half of 2026 and the share of their total expenditure devoted to the sector.

The 34 states spent a combined N614.55bn on health by the end of Q2 2026, although health expenditure varied considerably across the states.

Kano recorded the highest health expenditure share at 19.7%, followed by Kebbi at 12.5% and Jigawa at 11.6%. At the other end, Akwa Ibom recorded approximately 0.1%, Benue 0.7% and Cross River 1.4%.

In terms of the amount spent, Lagos recorded the highest health expenditure at N119.51bn, followed by Kano at N79.17bn and Bauchi at N42.03bn. Comparing these figures shows how much states spent on health and the proportion of their overall expenditure devoted to the sector.

The review provides citizens and other stakeholders with data to compare state health spending and follow how public funds are being allocated to the sector.

Rivers and Osun were excluded from the comparison because their Q2 2026 Budget Implementation Reports were unavailable at the time of analysis.