Economy · External debt · Nigeria
Nigeria’s external debt rose to $108.8bn in 2024.
$108.8bn
2024
Up $6.3bn from 2023.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
$108.8bn
What it is. External debt counts everything a country owes to creditors abroad at a given date, and the figure here comes from the World Bank's International Debt Statistics. It is a stock, the amount outstanding, so it grows with new borrowing and shrinks as loans are repaid. It is valued in current US dollars, so the total moves with exchange rates on any debt contracted in other currencies. Borrowing from domestic lenders, including naira bonds held at home, sits outside it.
Lower is better. Lower is better because every dollar owed abroad has to be repaid and serviced in foreign currency, so a smaller stock leaves the country less exposed. Nigeria's external debt stood at $108.8bn in 2024, up from $102.5bn a year earlier, a rise of $6.3bn or 6.1%. Since 2015 the lowest figure was $43.7bn in 2016, and the highest is the latest reading of $108.8bn. The stock now sits at the top of its range for the period.
Why it matters. A larger dollar debt takes more of the foreign currency the state earns, mainly from oil exports, to pay interest and principal. When the naira weakens, each dollar owed costs more naira to service, which squeezes the federal budget. Firms and households feel this through tighter dollar supply and higher import costs. At $108.8bn the stock is far above the $43.7bn recorded in 2016.
| Period | External debt · Nigeria |
|---|---|
| 2015 | $45bn |
| 2016 | $43.7bn |
| 2017 | $65.1bn |
| 2018 | $69.4bn |
| 2019 | $81.3bn |
| 2020 | $87.6bn |
| 2021 | $96.3bn |
| 2022 | $103.1bn |
| 2023 | $102.5bn |
| 2024 | $108.8bn |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
How to read this number
- Source
- Who published the figure
- Published
- When they released it
- Verified
- When we last checked it against the source
Every change is logged in Corrections. How the figure is made: Methodology.
Cite this number
Show text
Strata-AF™ Data, External debt, Nigeria, 2024; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/external-debt/nigeria
Data insights · Worked out from the published figures
What this means
Working this out from the published figures…
Strata AI commentary is coming — reviewed, dated, and generated only from the figures on this page.
Methodology
Total external debt stocks, current US dollars (International Debt Statistics). Unit: USD bn.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series DT.DOD.DECT.CD), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.