THUR JULY 30 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s foreign exchange utilisation surged 59.4% in 2025, driven by a sharp increase in payments for invisible imports, even as the industrial sector remained the largest consumer of foreign currency, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s 2025 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts released on Wednesday.
Total foreign exchange utilisation rose to US$42.83 billion in 2025 from US$26.88 billion a year earlier.
While visible imports accounted for US$18.76 billion, or 43.8% of total utilisation, invisible transactions climbed to US$24.07 billion, representing 56.2% of total FX demand after more than doubling from 2024.
Within visible imports, the industrial sector remained the largest user of foreign exchange, accounting for 42.1% of the total, with US$7.90 billion in FX utilisation despite a marginal 0.8% decline from the previous year.
The oil sector ranked second, consuming US$4.86 billion, up 114.9% from 2024, marking the fastest growth among major import categories.
Manufactured products absorbed US$2.93 billion, followed by food products at US$1.97 billion, transport at US$0.71 billion, while the agricultural and mineral sectors each utilised about US$0.19 billion.
The CBN said the increase in overall FX demand was primarily driven by invisible imports, where utilisation jumped 113.8% year-on-year.
Financial services dominated this category, accounting for US$22.18 billion, or 92.1% of all invisible import payments, after rising 125.3% from the previous year.
Other invisible import categories included tourism and travel services at US$3.72 billion, business services at US$1.15 billion, transport services at US$0.57 billion, education at US$0.53 billion, communication services at US$0.70 billion, and health-related and social services at US$0.03 billion.
The report also showed that foreign exchange utilisation declined in several categories, with spending on food imports falling 22.0%, mineral imports dropping 54.9%, communication services down 62.8%, education declining 18.4%, and other services falling 40.2% compared with 2024.
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