Nigeria’s external debt stock rose by 6.6 percent to $145.02 billion in 2025, from $135.99 billion in 2024, according to the World Bank.
The World Bank detailed the country’s external borrowing profile in its International Debt Report 2026, which tracks external borrowing and debt-service trends across low- and middle-income countries.
Published on Friday, the report put Nigeria’s public and publicly guaranteed debt at $62.4 billion, while private non-guaranteed debt accounted for $54.48 billion.
Short-term debt stood at $28.14 billion, the multilateral said.
NIGERIA’S $5 BILLION SWAP DEAL BACKED BY $6.7 BILLION IN DOMESTIC SECURITIES
The World Bank also said Nigeria obtained $5 billion through a total return swap (TRS) arrangement in 2026, pledging about $6.7 billion in domestic government securities as collateral.
The institution said the transaction had a three-year maturity and a collateralisation ratio of approximately 133 percent, meaning the value of securities pledged was about 33 percent higher than the financing obtained.
The institution said the TRS arrangements have been identified in Angola, Argentina, Colombia, Nigeria and Senegal since 2024, with financing amounts ranging from about $1 billion to $9.3 billion.
“Maturities have generally ranged from one to three years, and disclosed collateralization ratios have typically been between 133 and 198 percent,” the report said.
The World Bank said collateral for the transactions included domestic government securities, external sovereign bonds, US treasury securities or a combination of the instruments.
The report also said Nigeria raised $2.3 billion through a dual-tranche international bond issue, making it the third-largest issuer in the region.
The bond sale, according to the Bretton Woods organisation, comprised a 10-year tranche with an interest rate of 8.625 percent and a 20-year tranche at 9.125 percent.
On Nigeria’s debt burden, the World Bank put the country’s external debt-to-exports ratio at 212 percent in 2025, while external debt-to-gross national income stood at 51 percent.
Debt service accounted for 19 percent of exports, while debt service-to-gross national income was 5 percent.
The report showed that Nigeria’s average interest rate on new borrowing from official creditors was 1.9 percent in 2025, compared with 9.6 percent for private creditors.
The World Bank said new borrowing from official creditors had an average maturity of 25 years and a five-year grace period, while private creditor financing had a 12-year maturity and an eight-year grace period.
According to the report, external debt across low- and middle-income countries rose 5.5 percent to a record $9.4 trillion in 2025.
“Access to international finance has improved, but the price of that finance has not,” the report said.
Haishan Fu, the World Bank Group’s chief statistician and director of development data, welcomed the return of private lending, but said it came with significant costs.
Fu said while the return of private lending to low- and middle-income countries is welcome, “these countries are borrowing more, paying more, and in many cases leaving less for long-term development”.
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