Abiodun Folarin
Nigeria’s public debt burden continued its upward climb in Q4 2025, rising to ₦159.28 trillion (US$110.97 billion) from ₦153.29 trillion (US$103.94 billion) recorded in the previous quarter, reflecting a 3.90 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase.
The country’s external debt also spiked to ₦74.43 trillion in Q4 2025 from ₦71.48 trillion in the previous quarter, while its total domestic debt rose to ₦84.85 trillion during the period under review from ₦81.82 trillion.
According to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its March 2026 report, revealed that the share of external debt (in naira value) to total public debt was 46.73% in Q4 2025, while the share of domestic debt (in naira value) stood at 53.27%.
The report stated that Lagos State recorded the highest domestic debt in Q4 2025 with ₦1.22 trillion, followed by Rivers with ₦378.81 billion, while Jigawa State recorded the lowest with ₦1.60 billion, followed by Ondo with ₦8.42 billion.
“In addition, Lagos State recorded the highest external debt over the reference period with $1.17 billion, followed by Kaduna with $684.29 million, while the FCT had the lowest with $26.80 million, followed by Zamfara with $41.93 million.”
