Nigeria posted a current account surplus of $3.42 billion in the third quarter of 2025, down 41.14% from the $5.81 billion recorded in Q2 2025.
This is according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Balance of Payments (BoP) Highlights.
The surplus was also lower than the $5.78 billion posted in Q3 2024, reflecting rising external obligations despite stronger oil-sector earnings.
What the report is saying
The report read, “Provisional balance of payments (BOP) statistics for Q3 2025 show a current account surplus of US$3.42 billion, which was lower than the US$5.81 billion and US$5.78 billion recorded in the preceding quarter (Q2 2025) and corresponding period of 2024, respectively.”
The current account remained in surplus mainly because export receipts strengthened during the quarter. Total exports increased to $15.24 billion in Q3 2025, compared with $14.90 billion in Q2 2025, driven largely by crude oil and refined-product exports.
Crude oil export earnings rose by 10.31% to $8.45 billion, while refined petroleum product exports soared 44.03% to $2.29 billion. Gas exports, however, declined 30.21% to $2.31 billion, and non-oil exports fell to $2.19 billion from $2.34 billion in the previous quarter.
Imports also rose, with total imports climbing to $10.30 billion from $9.61 billion in Q2 2025. A key development during the quarter was the continued decline in fuel imports.
Refined petroleum product imports dropped 12.70% to $1.65 billion, signalling Nigeria’s gradual transition toward being a net exporter of refined products. Non-oil imports rose to $7.08 billion from $6.68 billion.
Despite the import increase, the goods account stayed in surplus at $4.94 billion, slightly below the $5.28 billion surplus in Q2 2025, but well above the $3.93 billion recorded in Q3 2024. The CBN noted that the improvement in crude and refined-product exports helped sustain the positive goods balance through the period.
Remittances hold firm as services and investment outflows rise
Foreign exchange inflows through the secondary income account, particularly diaspora remittances, remained strong. The account recorded $5.50 billion in Q3 2025, only slightly lower than the $5.51 billion posted in Q2 2025. Within this segment, workers’ remittances declined marginally to $5.24 billion from $5.30 billion in the previous quarter.
However, these inflows were offset by higher outflows on services and primary income. Net services payments widened to -$4.07 billion, compared with – $3.74 billion in Q2 2025. The increase was linked to higher spending on transport, travel, insurance, ICT-related services and government services.
The primary income account also deteriorated sharply to a net debit of $2.95 billion, up from $1.25 billion in Q2 2025. According to the CBN, this was largely due to repatriation of reinvested earnings by domestic banks on their foreign investments, showing the continued impact of profit and dividend payments on Nigeria’s external earnings position.
Financial account swings to surplus as reserves climb to $42.77 billion
Nigeria’s financial account recorded a net lending position of $0.32 billion in Q3 2025, a dramatic turnaround from the net borrowing of $6.90 billion in Q2 2025. This means the economy accumulated more external financial assets — including reserve assets — than it received from foreign investment inflows.
- Portfolio investment inflows fell to $2.51 billion from $5.28 billion in Q2 2025, reflecting lower foreign participation in domestic securities than in the previous quarter. In contrast, foreign direct investment inflows rose sharply to $0.72 billion, up from $0.09 billion in Q2 2025.
- Other investment liabilities amounted to $0.84 billion, while Nigerian investments abroad showed reversals and outflows across direct, portfolio and other investment assets.
The overall balance of payments returned to a surplus of $4.60 billion in Q3 2025, compared with a deficit of $0.27 billion in Q2 2025. At the same time, external reserves increased significantly to $42.77 billion as at end-September 2025, up from $37.81 billion as at end-June 2025.
Net Errors and Omissions also narrowed to – $3.09 billion, from – $12.71 billion in the previous quarter, indicating reduced unrecorded transactions.
