Nigeria’s public debt rises to N159trn
Abuja, April 2026 – Nigeria’s public debt rose to N159.28 trillion in December 2025 from N153.29 trillion in September 2025 due to new borrowings.
The public debt stood at N144.67 trillion in December 2024 from where it rose to N153.29 trillion in September 2025.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) disclosed this on Tuesday in its latest statistics on the debt stock.
It indicated that the new figure represented a quarter-on-quarter increase of N5.98 trillion, or 3.9 per cent, from N153.29 trillion recorded at the end of September 2025.
The external debt rose to N74.43 trillion in December 2025, from N71.48 trillion in September 2025, while the domestic debt rose from N81.82 trillion to N84.85 trillion in December 2025.
The Federal Government accounted for the bulk of domestic debt at N80.49 trillion, representing 50.53% of total public debt, while states and the Federal Capital Territory accounted for N4.36 trillion.
The DMO indicated that the December 2025 figures were provisional and were converted using the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official exchange rate of N1,435.2571/$, while the September 2025 figures used N1,474.85/$.
