Nigeria: External debt

* indicates monthly or quarterly data series
 Nigeria

External debt, percent of GDP

 Latest value 21.03
 Year 2023
 Measure percent
 Data availability 1990 - 2023
 Average 18.09
 Min - Max 4.32 - 45.25
 Source The World Bank
The latest value from 2023 is 21.03 percent, an increase from 15.97 percent in 2022. In comparison, the world average is 114.96 percent, based on data from 167 countries. Historically, the average for Nigeria from 1990 to 2023 is 18.09 percent. The minimum value, 4.32 percent, was reached in 2008 while the maximum of 45.25 percent was recorded in 1990. See the global rankings or world map for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.
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* indicates monthly or quarterly data series


Recent data
Nigeria - External debt - Recent values chart

Historical series
Nigeria - External debt - historical chart - 1990-2023




Definition: The total debt of public and private borrowers held by non-residents as percent of GDP. Source: Kose, M. Ayhan, Sergio Kurlat, Franziska Ohnsorge, and Naotaka Sugawara. 2022. "A Cross-Country Database of Fiscal Space." Journal of International Money and Finance 128 (November): 102682.

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 Related indicators Latest Reference Measure
 Terms of trade 127.70 2023 percent
 Trade openness 26.17 1960 percent
 Financial openness -0.673 2022 index points
 Exports, percent of GDP 9.24 1960 percent
 Exports, billion dollars 0.39 1960 billion U.S. dollars
 Imports, percent of GDP 16.92 1960 percent
 Imports, billion dollars 0.71 1960 billion U.S. dollars
 Foreign Direct Investment, percent of GDP 1.38 2025 percent
 Foreign Direct Investment, billion dollars 1.61 2024 billion U.S. dollars
 Portfolio investment inflows, equities 1,917.04 2024 million dollars (current)
 Current account, percent of GDP 4.83 2025 percent
 Current account, in dollars 14.04 2025 billion U.S. dollars
 Trade balance, percent of GDP -7.68 1960 percent
 Trade balance, in dollars -0.19 2024 billion U.S. dollars
 Reserves 46.02 2025 billion U.S. dollars
 Remittances, percent of GDP 8.44 2024 percent
 Remittances 22,789.10 2025 million U.S. dollars
 Net errors and omissions -15,726.34 2025 million USD
 External debt 21.03 2023 percent
 Short-term external debt 18.48 2023 percent
 Short-term debt to reserves 59.12 2023 percent
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