Nigeria’s Public Debt Profile Rises to N152.4trn, DMO Reports
Nigeria’s total public debt has risen to N152.40 trillion as of June 30, 2025, from N149.39 trillion recorded at the end of March, according to the latest data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The figure represents a quarterly increase of N3.01 trillion, or 2.01%, while in dollar terms, the debt stock climbed from $97.24 billion to $99.66 billion, reflecting a 2.49% rise.
According to the report, external debt rose to $46.98 billion (N71.85 trillion) in June from $45.98 billion (N70.63 trillion) in March.
Multilateral lenders remain Nigeria’s largest creditors, holding a combined $23.19 billion, which accounts for 49.4% of external obligations. The World Bank, through the International Development Association (IDA), is the single largest lender with $18.04 billion outstanding.
Bilateral loans amounted to $6.20 billion, led by the Export-Import Bank of China with $4.91 billion, followed by smaller exposures to France, Japan, India, and Germany.
Meanwhile, commercial borrowings totalled $17.32 billion, nearly all of which are Eurobonds, representing 36.9% of the external portfolio. An additional $268.9 million was owed under syndicated facilities and commercial bank loans.
On the domestic side, Nigeria’s debt rose to N80.55 trillion by June, up from N78.76 trillion in March—an increase of N1.79 trillion. Federal Government bonds remained dominant, accounting for N60.65 trillion or 79.2% of total domestic debt. This includes N36.52 trillion in naira-denominated bonds, N22.72 trillion in securitised Ways and Means advances, and N1.40 trillion in dollar bonds.
Treasury bills accounted for N12.76 trillion (16.7%), while Sukuk bonds stood at N1.29 trillion. Other smaller instruments included savings bonds (N91.53 billion), green bonds (N62.36 billion), and promissory notes (N1.73 trillion)—the latter comprising both naira and foreign currency-denominated liabilities converted at the June CBN exchange rates.
Out of the total N152.40 trillion public debt, the Federal Government accounted for N141.08 trillion, representing 92.6% of the total.
This comprised N64.49 trillion in external obligations and N76.59 trillion in domestic debt.
The DMO wrote: “The Foreign Denominated Promissory Notes Outstanding amount of USD850,069,492 and £98,526 as at June 2025 were converted to Naira using CBN Official exchange rate of 1USD to N1,529.2105 and 1GBP to N2,093.9479 as at June 30, 2025.”