Nigeria’s FX spending hits record $7.61 billion as services drive 78% surge

Nigeria’s foreign exchange (FX) utilisation rose to a record $7.61 billion in June 2026, representing a 78.1% increase from the $4.27 billion recorded in June 2025.

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Q2 2026 Statistical Bulletin, the increase was driven largely by spending on invisible transactions, particularly financial and other services.

The latest figure also represents a 36.1% increase from the $5.59 billion recorded in May 2026.

FX utilisation reaches new high

The CBN data show that the $7.61 billion FX utilisation recorded in June was the highest monthly figure in the available series covering April 2022 to June 2026.

• Invisible transactions accounted for $5.63 billion of the June total, compared with $2.43 billion in the same month of 2025.
• Import-related FX utilisation increased to $1.98 billion from $1.84 billion over the same period.
• Financial services recorded utilisation of $3.50 billion, up from $1.68 billion in June 2025.
• Other services not included elsewhere rose to $1.04 billion from $449.57 million a year earlier.

The figures indicate that the increase was concentrated in invisible transactions rather than imports, with financial services and other services accounting for substantial portions of the year-on-year rise.

Invisible transactions drive growth

Invisible transactions include foreign exchange utilisation for services rather than imported physical goods. In June, this category accounted for approximately 74% of total FX utilisation, highlighting its growing contribution to the overall figure.

Financial services were the largest individual service category, rising by about 108% year-on-year. Utilisation for other services not included elsewhere also more than doubled, increasing by approximately 132%.

• Business services recorded $451.03 million in June, compared with $229.09 million in the corresponding month of 2025. Meanwhile, utilisation for the oil sector rose to $559.79 million from $492.12 million.
• Manufactured products also recorded an increase, with import-related FX utilisation rising to $447.94 million from $291.76 million a year earlier.

The figures show that the monthly increase extended across several categories, although the largest contributions came from invisible transactions, particularly financial services and other services.

FX utilisation rose in 2025

The June figures follow a significant increase in Nigeria’s overall FX utilisation in the previous year.

• Nairametrics previously reported that total utilisation rose by 91.1% to $50.93 billion in 2025, its highest annual level since 2019.
• Invisible transactions accounted for $30.99 billion of that total, while imports accounted for $19.94 billion.
• Separately, Nigeria recorded total FX inflows of $109.9 billion in 2025, according to figures previously reported by Nairametrics. Autonomous inflows rose by 25.12% to $70.54 billion, accounting for 64.21% of total inflows.

The latest monthly data show that FX utilisation continued to increase in June 2026, with invisible transactions remaining the largest component of the total.