Nigeria’s FX demand hits 15-year high of $18.34 billion in Q2 2026

Nigeria’s foreign exchange utilisation rose to $18.34 billion in the second quarter of 2026, its highest quarterly level since Q3 2011, driven by services and financial payments rather than merchandise imports.

This is according to the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA) Q2 2026 FX Market Update, which draws on data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Total FX utilisation increased 12.84% from approximately $16.25 billion in Q1 2026 and 52.42% from $12.03 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2025.

Invisible-related transactions, covering services and financial payments, accounted for the largest share of FX utilisation during the quarter. Demand in this category reached a record $13.24 billion, representing 72.19% of the total and an increase of 93.16% from $6.85 billion a year earlier.

Merchandise imports accounted for $5.10 billion, down 1.49% year on year, highlighting the growing contribution of financial and services transactions to overall FX demand.

FMDA linked the strength in financial-services demand to cross-border investment and payment flows, although the report did not provide a detailed breakdown of the $9.64 billion.

The figure should therefore not be interpreted solely as confirmed investment repatriation or capital flight, while the report also identified $542.56 million in unallocated invisible demand because the June figures did not fully reconcile.

Nigeria’s foreign exchange inflows became more reliant on autonomous sources during the second quarter, while CBN dollar sales declined sharply. Autonomous inflows increased to $23.31 billion, their highest level since Q1 2020, and accounted for 74.15% of total inflows.

However, net FX flows represent the difference between reported inflows and outflows and should not be interpreted as an equivalent increase in Nigeria’s external reserves.

The latest figures extend a pattern already evident in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market during 2025, when services and financial transactions accounted for a larger share of utilisation than merchandise imports.

FX utilisation measures foreign exchange used by the transaction category, while net flows measure the difference between reported inflows and outflows.

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