Currency in Circulation Declines to N5.03trn – CBN

Currency in circulation dropped for the first time in one year, according to the updated money and credit data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The currency in circulation, representing the banknotes and coins that have been produced and issued as means of transactions in the economy, dropped to N5.03 trillion in February from N5.23 trillion in January.

Though the currency in circulation has grown steadily in the last one year, the decline by over N200bn was the first of such reductions in the last one year.

The last time the currency in circulation would drop was in January 2024 when it dropped marginally from N3.653 trillion to N3.650.

Since then the currency in circulation has grown month-on-month until it crossed the N5 trillion mark in January 2025 precisely at N5.23 trillion from N4.8 trillion in December; N4.54 trillion in November and N4.31 trillion in October.

Despite the volume of cash in circulation, there were concerns over cash scarcity towards the end of last month; the development attributed to hoarding.

But the updated data from the CBN showed a decline in C-in-C in February declining by 3.6 per cent month-on-month.

This, according to analysts, indicated a marginal slowdown in cash transactions as more people embrace online transactions.

The decline could also be seen in the currency outside banks which dropped from N4.7 trillion in January to N4.5 trillion.

Similarly, the money supply recorded its first decline in 2025, falling to N110.32tn in February from N110.98 trillion in the previous month.

Broad money represents the total volume of money supply in the economy and is defined as narrow money plus savings and time deposits with banks including foreign denominated deposits.