The Debt Management Office (DMO) released new data on Tuesday that showed Nigeria’s total public debt had reached ₦ 159.28 trillion as of December 31, 2025.
The number is higher than the ₦ 153.29 trillion recorded at the end of September 2025, which shows how much more the country is relying on borrowing to pay its bills.
The data shows that the debt stock went up by ₦5.98 trillion from one quarter to the next, which is a 3.9% increase between September and December 2025.
The DMO, on the other hand, said that the December 2025 numbers are not final and were based on the official exchange rate of ₦1,435.2571 to the dollar set by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The September numbers were based on ₦1,474.85 for every dollar.
Nigeria’s public debt rose by ₦14.61tn, or 10.1%, from ₦144.67tn in December 2024 to ₦159.28tn in December 2025.
The debt stock also went up a lot in dollar terms, from $94.23 billion to $110.97 billion. This is a rise of $16.75 billion over the course of a year.
Domestic debt made up the biggest part of the total debt profile, going up from ₦81.82tn in September 2025 to ₦84.85tn in December 2025.
This is a 3.7% increase of ₦3.03 trillion from the previous quarter. Domestic debt grew from ₦74.38 trillion in December 2024, which is a ₦10.47 trillion or 14.1 percent increase over the course of the year.
In dollars, domestic debt went up from $55.47 billion in September 2025 to $59.12 billion in December 2025. This is up from $48.44 billion in December 2024, showing that the country still relies on the domestic market for financing.
FG Has Most of the Debt in the Country
Naija News found that a closer look at the numbers showed that the Federal Government was responsible for ₦80.49 trillion of the domestic debt, or 50.53 percent of the total public debt.
States and the Federal Capital Territory, on the other hand, made up ₦4.36 trillion.
The amount of money owed to other countries goes up to ₦74.43 trillion.
As of December 2025, Nigeria’s external debt was ₦74.43tn, which was 46.73% of the total public debt.
This is an increase of ₦2.95tn from ₦71.48tn in September 2025 and ₦4.14tn from ₦70.29tn in December 2024.
External debt went up from $48.46 billion in September 2025 to $51.86 billion in December 2025, and from $45.78 billion in December 2024.
The Federal Government also dominated external borrowing, with ₦66.27tn of the total external debt. States and the FCT made up ₦8.16tn of this amount.
Even though Nigeria’s total debt went up, the structure of its debt portfolio stayed mostly the same.
In December 2025, domestic debt made up 53.27% of total debt. This was a small drop from 53.37% in September 2025, but it was still higher than 51.41% in December 2024.
On the other hand, external debt was 46.73 percent in December 2025, down from 46.63 percent in September 2025 and 48.59 percent a year earlier.
