Nigeria’s external debt stock rose to $145.02bn at the end of 2025, a 6.6% increase from the previous year, as the World Bank warned that high borrowing costs are putting pressure on developing economies.
The figure, contained in the World Bank’s International Debt Report 2026, represents an increase of about $61.8bn from the $83.21bn recorded in 2015.
The report was released on Thursday.
Nigeria’s total external debt stood at $145.015bn as of December 2025.
The Breakdown
The debt comprises $62.4bn in public and publicly guaranteed debt, $54.476bn in private nonguaranteed debt, and $28.139bn in short-term obligations.
Government and government-guaranteed borrowing accounts for less than half of the country’s external debt.
The World Bank defines public and publicly guaranteed debt as external obligations owed by government institutions and other public entities, including borrowing by private organisations backed by government guarantees.
Private nonguaranteed debt covers external loans obtained by private borrowers without such guarantees.
Nigeria’s external debt-to-exports ratio stood at 212%, while its external debt-to-gross national income ratio was 51%.
The debt-service-to-exports ratio was 19%, and debt service as a share of gross national income stood at 5%.
Although the debt-to-exports and debt-to-GNI ratios declined by 4.3% and 6.6% respectively from their 2024 levels, the debt-service-to-exports ratio increased by 9.6%.
Debt service relative to GNI also rose by 6.9%.
A Troubling Paradox
The World Bank said debt-service payments among low- and middle-income countries reached $1.4tn in 2025, marking the fifth consecutive year of increases.
Payments rose by 1.9%, driven largely by obligations to private creditors, particularly international bondholders.
In the report’s foreword, the World Bank’s Chief Statistician, Haishan Fu, described the situation as a troubling paradox.
“Low- and middle-income countries are borrowing more, paying more, and, in many cases, leaving less for long-term development,” Fu said.
“The objective should, therefore, not be more debt. It should be better financing that is affordable, transparent, sustainable, and capable of supporting investment and growth.”
Nigeria returned to the international bond market in 2025, raising $2.3bn through a dual-tranche sovereign bond issuance.
The issuance comprised a 10-year bond with an interest rate of 8.625% and a 20-year bond carrying an interest rate of 9.125%.
Across IDA-eligible countries, the average interest rate on new commitments from private creditors rose to 8.2% in 2025, the highest level since the late 1980s.
In contrast, the average rate on new official creditor commitments remained at 2.7% between 2024 and 2025.
For Nigeria, the report put the average interest rate on new official external debt commitments at 1.9%, compared with 9.6% for private creditors.
Nigeria’s new official borrowing commitments had an average maturity of 25 years and a five-year grace period.
Private creditor commitments had an average maturity of 12 years and an eight-year grace period.
The World Bank also listed Nigeria alongside Angola, Argentina, Colombia, and Senegal among countries that had entered into Total Return Swap arrangements since 2024.
Nigeria entered into a $5bn Total Return Swap transaction in 2026, with a three-year maturity and a collateralisation ratio of approximately 133%.
This means the country pledged domestic securities worth about $6.7bn to secure the financing.
