The Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria’s total public debt has increased to N149.38 trillion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025.
Nigeria’s public debt profile consists of the federal and subnational governments’ domestic and external debt stocks.
According to data from the debt office, the country’s total public debt increased by N4.72 trillion or 3.3 percent compared to the N144.67 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2024.
The DMO said the total domestic debt was N78.75 trillion ($51.2 billion) while the total external debt was N70.63 trillion ($45.9 billion).
However, the federal government accounted for the bulk of the domestic debt, which was N74.88 trillion in the quarter under review — up from N70.40 trillion recorded in the previous quarter.
On the contrary, domestic debt owed by states and FCT dropped to N3.86 trillion in March 2025, compared to the N3.96 trillion recorded in December 2024.
On May 17, a report by the National Orientation Agency (NOA) said the federal and state governments have reduced their debt, supported by an increase in disbursements from the federation account allocation committee (FAAC).
According to the report, between June 2023 and December 2024, the domestic debt stock of the 36 states and the FCT dropped from N5.82 trillion to N3.97 trillion — a reduction of N1.85 trillion in 18 months.
