Nigeria spent ₦2.70 trillion on external debt service in the second quarter of 2025, according to the Budget Office of the Federation, in its second quarter 2025 Budget implementation report.
The amount is ₦1.01 trillion, or 60.05%, above the prorated quarterly sum of ₦1.69 trillion; it is also 45.2% of the ₦5.97 trillion revenue the government generated during the period, exposing the country’s precarious debt situation. Nigeria’s external debt as of June 2025 stands at ₦71.85 trillion ($46.98 billion), or 47.14% of the total debt stock.
The report shows that the total recurrent debt expenditure in the second quarter of 2025 stood at ₦4.44 trillion, indicating an increase of ₦862.57 billion (24.10%) from the ₦3.58 trillion projected for the quarter.
A total of ₦1.71 trillion was used to service FGN domestic debt during the quarter. This indicates a difference of ₦90.71 billion (5.05%) below the prorated quarterly estimate.
According to the report, the total public debt stock as of June 30, 2025, stood at ₦152.40 trillion ($99.66 billion). This indicates an increase of ₦3.01 trillion (2.01%) when compared to the ₦149.39 trillion ($97.24 billion) recorded at the end of March, 2025.
Domestic debt accounted for ₦80.55 trillion ($52.67 billion) or 52.86% of the total debt stock. This translates to a net present value of total public debt to the 2024 GDP ratio of 45.08% as at the end of June, 2025.
Although the report said this is below the country’s threshold of 60% and the international threshold of 56% for comparator countries, even the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have warned the country to watch the rate at which it is piling up debt.
Multilateral lenders are holding 49.4% of Nigeria’s external debt, meaning any global interest-rate shock could tighten financing conditions.
Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, has also spoken against the rising debt profile, stressing that loans must directly boost repayment capacity, and warning against over-reliance on foreign debt due to exchange-rate risks.
The Q2 Budget implementation report showed that the Federal Government’s domestic debt stock of ₦76.59 trillion as at the end of June, 2025, represents an increase of ₦1.7 trillion, or 2.27% above the ₦74.89 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2025. It was also ₦9.63 trillion (14.38%) above the ₦66.96 trillion reported in the corresponding period of 2024.
It said the increase in domestic debt relative to the second quarter of 2024 was due to the new issuance of FGN bonds during the period. A breakdown of the domestic debt stock as at 30th June, 2025, reveals that ₦60.65 trillion (79.18%) is for FGN Bonds, ₦12.76 trillion (16.67%) is for Nigerian Treasury Bills (NTBs), ₦91.53 billion (0.12%) is for FGN Savings Bonds, ₦1.29 trillion (1.69%) is for FGN Sukuk, ₦62.36 billion (0.08%) is for Green Bonds and ₦1.73 trillion (2.26%) is for Promissory Notes.
On the external debt stock side, Nigeria’s external debt stock, which stood at $46.98 billion as at 30th June, 2025, was $1.00 billion (2.17%) and $4.08 billion (9.51%) higher when compared to the $45.98 billion reported in the first quarter of 2025 and the $42.90 billion reported in the corresponding quarter of 2024.
A breakdown of the external debt stock as of June 30, 2025 revealed that multilateral debts amounted to $23.19 billion (49.36%), bilateral debts amounted to $6.20 billion (13.21%), commercial (Euro-Bond) amounted to $17.32 billion (36.86%), while syndicate loans and Deutsche Bank A.G. amounted to $268.90 million.
