Central Bank of Nigeria. Photo: CBN
Nigeria’s current account surplus rose sharply by 255.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $4.98bn in the first quarter of 2026, driven by higher crude oil, gas and refined petroleum exports as well as a steep decline in petroleum product imports.
This was contained in the latest Balance of Payments report released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday.
The apex bank, in its Q1 2026 Balance of Payments Highlights, stated that “provisional balance of payments statistics for Q1 2026 show a current account surplus of $4.98bn, which was higher than the $1.40bn and $3.41bn recorded in the preceding quarter (Q4 2025) and corresponding period (Q1 2025) respectively.”
The report showed that the current account surplus expanded by 255.71 per cent from the $1.40bn recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025 and was 46.04 per cent higher than the $3.41bn surplus posted in the corresponding period of 2025.
