Nigeria’s overseas alternate utilisation rose to $18.34 billion in the second quarter of 2026, its highest quarterly degree since Q3 2011, pushed by companies and monetary funds moderately than merchandise imports.
This is in accordance with the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA) Q2 2026 FX Market Update, which attracts on information from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Total FX utilisation elevated 12.84% from roughly $16.25 billion in Q1 2026 and 52.42% from $12.03 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
Financial Services Dominate FX Demand:
Invisible-related transactions, protecting companies and monetary funds, accounted for the biggest share of FX utilisation in the course of the quarter. Demand in this class reached a document $13.24 billion, representing 72.19% of the entire and a rise of 93.16% from $6.85 billion a yr earlier.
Merchandise imports accounted for $5.10 billion, down 1.49% yr on yr, highlighting the rising contribution of monetary and companies transactions to general FX demand.
- Financial companies utilised $9.64 billion, or 52.58% of whole FX demand, up 72.81% from $5.58 billion in Q2 2025.
- Business companies demand elevated 191.39% to $1.66 billion, whereas different companies rose 118.66% to $1.12 billion.
- Industrial imports declined 22.67% to $1.86 billion, whereas oil imports fell 9.75% to $1.25 billion.
- Manufactured merchandise demand elevated 77.73% to $982.09 million, whereas food-related utilisation rose 26.20% to $649.99 million.
- Financial companies alone accounted for nearly 1.9 occasions the overseas alternate utilised for all merchandise imports mixed.
FMDA linked the energy in financial-services demand to cross-border funding and cost flows, though the report didn’t present an in depth breakdown of the $9.64 billion.
The determine ought to subsequently not be interpreted solely as confirmed funding repatriation or capital flight, whereas the report additionally recognized $542.56 million in unallocated invisible demand as a result of the June figures didn’t totally reconcile.
Autonomous inflows dominate FX provide:
Nigeria’s overseas alternate inflows turned extra reliant on autonomous sources in the course of the second quarter, whereas CBN greenback gross sales declined sharply. Autonomous inflows elevated to $23.31 billion, their highest degree since Q1 2020, and accounted for 74.15% of whole inflows.
- This represented the best autonomous influx share in 13 years, in contrast with roughly 64% of whole inflows recorded all through 2025.
- CBN FX gross sales fell 66.73% to $418.08 million from $1.26 billion in Q1 2026.
- First-half CBN greenback gross sales totalled $1.67 billion, the bottom for any half-year interval since FMDA’s data started in 2008.
- Total FX inflows declined 2.96% to $31.43 billion, whereas CBN-sourced inflows fell 20.44% to $8.12 billion.
- Total FX outflows decreased 19.22% to $8.93 billion, lifting web FX flows to $22.50 billion, their highest degree since This autumn 2019.
- First-half web FX flows reached $43.84 billion, representing a 47.24% improve from the corresponding interval of 2025.
- The figures point out that autonomous sources equipped almost three-quarters of whole inflows in the course of the quarter, whilst general inflows declined from Q1.
However, web FX flows signify the distinction between reported inflows and outflows and shouldn’t be interpreted as an equal improve in Nigeria’s exterior reserves.
Financial funds reshape FX demand:
The newest figures lengthen a sample already evident in Nigeria’s overseas alternate market throughout 2025, when companies and monetary transactions accounted for a bigger share of utilisation than merchandise imports.
- Nairametrics beforehand reported that whole FX utilisation increased 91.1% to $50.93 billion in 2025, its highest annual degree since 2019.
- Invisible transactions accounted for $30.99 billion of FX utilisation in 2025, in contrast with $19.94 billion allotted to imports.
- Total FX inflows reached $109.9 billion in 2025, in accordance with figures beforehand reported by Nairametrics.
- Autonomous inflows elevated 25.12% to $70.54 billion in 2025, representing 64.21% of whole inflows.
- The autonomous influx share subsequently elevated to 74.15% in Q2 2026, whereas monetary companies accounted for 52.58% of FX utilisation.
FX utilisation measures overseas alternate utilized by the transaction class, whereas web flows measure the distinction between reported inflows and outflows.
