The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced that Nigeria recorded an overall Balance of Payments (BOP) surplus of $4.60 billion in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025.
The report, released by the apex bank on Tuesday, 30 December 2025, marks a decisive reversal from the $0.27 billion deficit recorded in the preceding quarter (Q2). This surplus indicates that Nigeria earned more foreign exchange through trade and investments than it spent, providing a significant boost to the country’s external buffers.
A major driver of this surplus was Nigeria’s evolving energy sector, which is gradually transitioning from a net importer to a net exporter of refined fuels.
Crude oil exports earnings rose 10.3% to $8.45 billion, up from $7.66 billion in Q2, as refined petroleum exports surged by 44% to $2.29 billion, reflecting increased output from the Dangote Refinery and other local modular refineries.
Payments for refined petroleum imports also dropped by 12.7% to $1.65 billion, further strengthening the trade balance while total goods exports reached $15.24 billion, maintaining a healthy goods account surplus of $4.94 billion.
The financial and secondary income accounts provided the necessary support to push the overall balance into a healthy surplus with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) seeing a staggering 700% quarter-on-quarter increase, jumping to $720 million from just $90 million in Q2, as portfolio Inflows remained robust at $2.51 billion, though this was a moderation from the $5.28 billion seen earlier in the year.
Diaspora Remittances remained a “stabilizing pillar,” also contributing $5.24 billion to the secondary income account.
However, despite the headline success, the CBN report highlighted areas of persistent pressure like services deficit seeing a widening of outflows for transport, travel, and professional services to $4.07 billion, and profit repatriation leading to the primary income account’s sharp 136% increase in outflows (to $2.95 billion), largely driven by domestic banks and foreign investors repatriating dividends and earnings.
CBN Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs. Hakama Sidi Ali, attributed the positive result to the “sustained implementation of macroeconomic reforms,” including the liberalization of the FX market and a disciplined monetary policy designed to stabilize the Naira.
