The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed that the country spent $2.34bn on food imports in 2025, with second quarter of the year recording higher demands.
The apex bank revealed the data in its latest quarterly statistical bulletin on sectoral utilisation of foreign exchange, which suggests that the country remained heavily dependent on imported food items.
An analysis of the data showed that the 2025 food import bill was lower than the $2.53bn recorded in 2024 by $186.4m, representing a 7.37 per cent decline.
Despite the drop, the figures indicate that food imports remained a major source of foreign exchange demand, with monthly spending staying above $140m throughout the year.
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The highest monthly food import expenditure in 2025 was recorded in September at $248.60m, followed by December with $245.86m and July with $229.70m.
The lowest spending was recorded in April at $141.13m, almost unchanged from March’s $141.30m.
Further analysis showed that food import demand strengthened in the second half of the year. Between January and June 2025, the country spent $1.07bn on food imports, compared with $1.28bn between July and December.
This means that 54.55 per cent of the total food import bill for 2025 was recorded in the second half of the year.
Year-on-year, food import spending fell sharply in February, March and August. It declined by 35.61 per cent from $303.91m in February 2024 to $195.68m in February 2025, while March dropped by 36.22 per cent from $221.54m to $141.30m.
However, some months recorded increases. July rose by 53.23 per cent from $149.91m in 2024 to $229.70m in 2025, while January rose by 29.61 per cent from $164.43m to $213.11m.
The data suggests that although Nigeria reduced its annual food import-related foreign exchange demand in 2025, the country remained heavily dependent on imported food items, exposing consumers to exchange-rate pressure and global commodity price movements.
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