Nigeria’s food import bill recorded a 7.37 per cent year-on-year decline in 2025, falling to $2.34 billion from $2.53 billion in 2024, according to the latest Quarterly Statistical Bulletin from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The data signals what financial analysts describe as a potential structural realignment in how Africa’s largest economy allocates its foreign exchange resources.
“We are seeing a structural realignment in how the country allocates its hard currency,” an analyst reviewing the CBN figures told our correspondent. “The drop in food-related foreign exchange demand suggests a moderation in import reliance, even as Nigeria continues to navigate food security challenges.”
Monthly breakdown from the apex bank showed that food imports averaged $195.28 million per month throughout 2025. The year’s lowest point came in April at $141.13 million, while demand surged to a peak of $248.60 million in September, driven by traditional seasonal stocking ahead of the festive period.
A CBN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained the fluctuations: “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 most significant finding in the bulletin was not the absolute decline in food spending but the dramatic reduction in food imports’ share of total foreign exchange utilisation. That share collapsed from 9.49 per cent in 2024 to just 4.97 per cent in 2025.
This sharp contraction occurred even as Nigeria’s total foreign exchange utilisation expanded by 77 per cent, climbing from $26.65 billion to $47.17 billion over the 12-month 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 CBN report stated.
Finance and economic expert Sola Adekanmbi suggested the expansion indicates a resurgence of activity in non-agricultural sectors, particularly manufacturing and industrial retooling, which required heavier capital injections in 2025.
“An expanding forex pie coupled with a shrinking food bill is exactly what the economy needs to witness for sustainable long-term growth,” Adekanmbi said. “It implies that liquidity is increasingly being directed toward productive capacity and industrial inputs rather than consumption.”
The data suggests that while Nigeria continues to import food, the country’s foreign exchange priorities are gradually shifting away from agricultural consumption and toward industrial development.
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