Nigeria’s total external debt stock rose to about $145 billion in 2025, according to World Bank data, as the lender warned that rising borrowing costs are increasing financial pressure on developing economies and threatening spending on essential services.
The World Bank’s International Debt Statistics 2026 put Nigeria’s external debt at $145.02 billion at the end of 2025, up from $135.99 billion in 2024, an increase of about 6.6%.
The figure covers external borrowing across different sectors of the economy, including public and private debt, and should not be confused with the country’s public external debt alone.
The World Bank’s latest report also highlighted a broader debt challenge confronting developing countries, whose external debt rose by 5.5% to a record $9.4 trillion in 2025.
Risk of fewer resources for healthcare, infrastructure
The increase was the fastest annual growth since 2021, as governments returned to international bond markets and borrowed more from private creditors, often at higher interest rates.
The Washington-based lender warned that expensive borrowing and rising debt-service obligations could leave governments with fewer resources for healthcare, education, infrastructure and job creation.
The report noted that some governments were issuing new bonds to refinance maturing obligations, extending repayment periods but sometimes taking on more expensive debt without substantially reducing their overall liabilities.
Nigeria’s borrowing profile reflects the importance of both multilateral and commercial financing. Debt Management Office (DMO) data show that the World Bank Group was the country’s largest multilateral creditor at the end of June 2026, with outstanding obligations of $20.73 billion.
Commercial borrowing
Commercial borrowing also accounted for a substantial share of Nigeria’s external public debt, including $18.55 billion in Eurobonds.
Nigeria paid $1.82 billion to service its external debt in the first half of 2026, according to DMO figures, with interest payments accounting for $1.11 billion, or about 61% of the total.
