The Central Bank of Nigeria published provisional balance of payments statistics for 2024, reporting a current account surplus of USD 17.22 billion, up 168.22% from USD 6.42 billion in 2023 (USD 3.48 billion in 2022). Nigeria’s overall balance of payments recorded a surplus of USD 6.83 billion, while external reserves stood at USD 40.19 billion at end-December 2024, about USD 6.8 billion higher than at end-2023. The goods account surplus increased to USD 13.17 billion from USD 8.08 billion, reflecting higher gas exports (USD 8.66 billion) and non-oil exports (USD 7.46 billion) alongside a lower import bill (USD 39.80 billion versus USD 47.75 billion). The release linked the export increase and import compression to exchange rate unification and the subsequent depreciation of the naira, and noted that the start of production at the Dangote Refinery contributed to reduced fuel import demand. The services account debit widened slightly to USD 13.36 billion, net primary income out-payments fell 37.1% to USD 6.63 billion on lower dividend and interest outflows, and net secondary income rose to USD 24.04 billion, supported by higher Official Development Assistance (USD 3.37 billion) and personal transfers including workers’ remittances of USD 20.98 billion (of which IMTO inflows accounted for USD 4.73 billion). On the financial account, the statistics show a net acquisition of financial assets of USD 12.12 billion in 2024 compared with a net incurrence of financial liabilities of USD 18.48 billion in 2023; portfolio investment inflows rose 106.5% to USD 13.35 billion while direct investment inflows fell 42.3% to USD 1.08 billion, and net errors and omissions narrowed to minus USD 5.10 billion, attributed to improved data availability and capture.

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