Nigeria’s Forex Use Surges 77% to $47.17bn as Food Import Bill Drops
By Aboki Forex —
Nigeria’s total foreign exchange utilisation jumped 77 per cent in 2025, rising from $26.65bn in 2024 to $47.17bn. The surge was driven by a rebound in non-agricultural sectors.
Lagos-based finance expert Sola Adekanmbi said the expansion signals a major recovery in manufacturing and industrial retooling. These activities required heavier capital injections last year.
“An expanding forex pie coupled with a shrinking food bill is exactly what the economy needs for sustainable growth,” Adekanmbi said. “Liquidity is increasingly going toward productive capacity and industrial inputs, not consumption.”
Nigeria’s food import bill fell to $2.34bn in 2025, a 7.37 per cent decline from $2.53bn in 2024. Financial analysts said this marks a critical shift in economic priorities.
“We are seeing a structural realignment in how the country allocates its hard currency,” an analyst reviewing data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Quarterly Statistical Bulletin said. “The drop in food-related forex demand suggests a moderation in import reliance, even as Nigeria faces food security challenges.”
The CBN bulletin highlighted how small food imports have become relative to the rest of the economy. The share of food imports in total forex utilisation fell from 9.49 per cent in 2024 to 4.97 per cent in 2025.
“Food imports took up a much smaller portion of overall forex demand, even though the economy used substantially more foreign exchange across other vital sectors,” the CBN report stated.
Data from the apex bank showed food imports averaged $195.28m monthly in 2025. The first half of the year recorded a low of $141.13m in April. Demand strengthened in the latter half, peaking at $248.60m in September.
A CBN official speaking on condition of anonymity explained the monthly fluctuations. “The spikes in the third and fourth quarters, especially the September peak, reflect traditional seasonal stocking ahead of the festive period,” the official said. “But the macro trend remains clear. The overall trajectory for food import financing is leaning downward.”