Nigeria recorded a current account surplus of $3.42 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025.This represents a 41.14 per cent decline from the $5.81 billion surplus recorded in the previous quarter.

This is contained in the latest Balance of Payments (BoP) report by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The report also indicated that the current account surplus was below the $5.78 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2024, suggesting that rising external obligations have had an impact, despite the stronger earnings from the oil sector.

“The provisional balance of payments (BOP) statistics for Q3 show a current account surplus of $3.42 billion. This is lower than the $5.81 billion and $5.78 billion recorded in the preceding quarter (Q2) and the corresponding period of 2024, respectively,” it stated.

The current account remained positive largely due to improved export receipts. In Q3, total exports rose to $15.24 billion, up from $14.9 billion in the previous quarter. This increase was primarily driven by crude oil and refined petroleum product exports.

Crude oil export earnings saw a significant rise of 10.31 per cent to $8.45 billion. Refined petroleum product exports also surged by 44.03 per cent to $2.29 billion, reflecting the growing domestic refining capacity.


In contrast, gas export earnings declined by 30.21 per cent to $2.31 billion, while non-oil exports slipped to $2.19 billion from $2.34 billion in Q2. Imports also expanded during the quarter, with total imports rising to $10.3 billion compared to $9.61 billion in the preceding quarter.

Notably, imports of refined petroleum products fell by 12.7 per cent to $1.65 billion, indicating Nigeria’s gradual shift towards becoming a net exporter of refined fuels. However, non-oil imports increased to $7.08 billion from $6.68 billion.

Despite higher imports, Nigeria’s goods account remained in surplus at $4.94 billion. This is slightly lower than the $5.28 billion recorded in Q2 but significantly higher than the $3.93 billion posted in Q3 2024.

The CBN attributed this sustained surplus to improved performance in crude oil and refined-product exports.
Foreign exchange inflows through the secondary income account, particularly diaspora remittances, remained robust at $5.5 billion. This is marginally below the $5.51 billion recorded in the previous quarter.

However, workers’ remittances declined slightly to $5.24 billion from $5.3 billion. Despite these inflows, increased outflows on services and primary income partially offset them. Net services payments widened to a deficit of $4.07 billion, compared to $3.74 billion in Q2. This was driven by higher spending on transport, travel, insurance, ICT-related services and government services.

The primary income account deteriorated sharply, recording a net debit of $2.95 billion, up from $1.25 billion in the previous quarter. The CBN explained that this was largely due to the repatriation of reinvested earnings by domestic banks on foreign investments.

This highlights the continued pressure of profit and dividend payments on Nigeria’s external position. On the financial account, Nigeria posted a net lending position of $0.32 billion. This is a significant turnaround from the net borrowing of $6.9 billion recorded in Q2 2025. This indicates a higher accumulation of external financial assets, including reserves.

Portfolio investment inflows declined to $2.51 billion from $5.28 billion. This reflects reduced foreign participation in domestic securities. In contrast, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows rose sharply to $0.72 billion, from $0.09 billion in the previous quarter. Other investment liabilities stood at $0.84 billion, while Nigerian investments abroad recorded reversals and outflows across direct, portfolio, and other investments.

Consequently, the report noted that Nigeria’s overall balance of payments for Q3 resulted in a higher surplus of $4.6 billion.