Nigeria’s external debt service rose to 21.9% of exports in 2024.

Lower is better. A lower share leaves more foreign earnings free for imports, reserves and other uses, so a lower figure is better. Nigeria's latest figure, for 2024, is 21.9% of exports, up from 15.4% of exports a year earlier, a rise of 6.5 percentage points. It is the highest reading since 2015, the start of the window. The lowest in that span was 4.8% of exports, recorded in 2015, so the current share is more than four times that low.

Why it matters. Roughly a fifth of what Nigeria earns abroad now goes to servicing external debt. That leaves less foreign currency for importers, who need it for fuel, machinery and inputs, and it adds pressure on the government to find dollars for repayments. A share this high also tends to make new borrowing more expensive, since lenders watch this ratio closely.