Nigeria's External Debt Servicing Hits $5.21 Billion in 2025

In 2025, Nigeria's expenditure on servicing external debt reached $5.21 billion, a significant rise from $4.66 billion in 2024, reflecting an increase of $551.86 million or 11.9%. Despite a slight decline in overall international payments, which fell from $7.44 billion in 2024 to $7.22 billion in 2025, the share of external payments devoted to debt servicing increased markedly.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria indicates that 72.11% of Nigeria's international payments in 2025 were allocated to servicing foreign debt, compared to 62.58% in 2024. The highest debt servicing payment occurred in November 2025, totaling $1.31 billion, which represented almost the entire external outflow for that month.

Additionally, while total international payments declined month-on-month from December 2025 to January 2026, external debt servicing increased, indicating a persistent trend in Nigeria's financial obligations.