ABUJA, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)-Nigeria’s food import bill fell to $2.34bn in 2025, representing a 7.37 per cent drop from the $2.53bn recorded in the preceding year.
Financial analysts said the development reflects a gradual shift in the country’s external spending pattern.
“We are seeing a structural realignment in how the country allocates its hard currency,” noted an analyst reviewing data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Quarterly Statistical Bulletin.
“The drop in food-related foreign exchange demand suggests a moderation in import reliance, even as Nigeria continues to navigate food security challenges,” the analyst said.
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Data from the Central Bank showed that food imports averaged $195.28m monthly in 2025.
The figures indicated a low of $141.13m in April, while demand increased in the latter part of the year, reaching a peak of $248.60m in September.
A Central Bank official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, attributed the fluctuations to seasonal demand patterns.
“The spikes we observed in the third and fourth quarters, particularly the September peak, reflect traditional seasonal stocking ahead of the festive period. However, the macro trend remains clear: the overall trajectory for food import financing is leaning downward,” the official said.
The report further showed that the share of food imports in total foreign exchange utilisation declined significantly from 9.49 per cent in 2024 to 4.97 per cent in 2025.
This decline occurred even as total foreign exchange utilisation rose sharply by 77 per cent, increasing from $26.65bn to $47.17bn within the period.
“Food imports took up a much smaller portion of overall forex demand, even though the economy used substantially more foreign exchange across other vital sectors,” the Central Bank report stated.
An economist, Sola Adekanmbi, said the trend suggests growing activity in non-agricultural sectors such as manufacturing and industrial expansion, which required higher forex allocations in 2025.
He said, “An expanding forex pie coupled with a shrinking food bill is exactly what the economy needs to witness for sustainable long-term growth. It implies that liquidity is increasingly being directed toward productive capacity and industrial inputs rather than consumption.”