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Nigeria recorded a sharp increase in foreign exchange utilisation in the second quarter of 2026, with total demand reaching $18.34bn as spending on financial and other services continued to expand.
Figures from the Financial Markets Dealers Association, drawing on Central Bank of Nigeria data, indicated that foreign exchange utilisation rose from $16.25bn in the first quarter to $18.34bn in the three months under review. The amount was also substantially higher than the $12.03bn recorded during the corresponding period of 2025.
Financial services accounted for the largest portion of the expenditure, absorbing $9.64bn during the quarter. The figure represented more than half of total foreign exchange utilisation and reflected a significant increase from the $5.58bn spent on the category a year earlier.
Business-related payments also contributed to the rising demand. Expenditure on business services climbed to $1.66bn, while payments classified under other services reached $1.12bn. Combined spending on invisible transactions, which includes services and other non-goods payments, stood at $13.24bn, accounting for 72.19 per cent of total utilisation.
In contrast, foreign exchange spending on imports showed a mixed performance. Total import-related utilisation declined slightly to $5.10bn, with industrial imports falling to $1.86bn and oil imports dropping to $1.25bn. However, foreign exchange demand for manufactured goods rose considerably to $982.09m, indicating stronger spending in that category.
The report also showed that autonomous sources remained the leading contributors to foreign exchange inflows, supplying $23.31bn during the second quarter. Total inflows, however, declined by 2.96 per cent to $31.43bn compared with the preceding quarter. Funds supplied through the Central Bank of Nigeria fell to $8.12bn, while the bank’s direct foreign exchange sales to the market amounted to $418.08m.
Despite the decline in direct intervention, Nigeria recorded net foreign exchange flows of $22.50bn during the quarter, the highest since the final quarter of 2019. The CBN’s total dollar sales for the first six months of 2026 stood at $1.67bn, the lowest half-year figure since records began in 2008.
The latest figures point to the growing influence of service-related transactions on Nigeria’s foreign exchange market, even as demand for some categories of imported goods weakened. The concentration of spending in financial services also highlights the need to examine the transactions driving the country’s changing foreign exchange requirements.
