Demand for foreign exchange (FX) in Nigeria’s transport sector surged in the third quarter of 2025, reflecting rising payments for logistics, freight, and travel-related services, even as overall FX pressures in the economy eased.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that FX utilisation for transport services rose to $184.8 million in Q3, up from $153 million in Q2, indicating stronger activity across shipping, aviation, and cross-border logistics.
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The surge in transport-related FX demand coincided with a modest increase in tourism and travel-related payments, which rose to about $950,000 in Q3 2025 from roughly $220,000 in Q2, suggesting improving mobility and service-sector activity during the quarter.
While these flows remain small relative to financial and business services, they highlight a gradual recovery in the movement of goods and people, occurring alongside reduced reliance on CBN FX sales and stronger market-led FX supply.
FX demand for food products also increased in the third quarter of 2025, reflecting sustained reliance on imported food items despite easing pressures in the broader FX market.
CBN data show that FX utilisation for food imports rose to $653.9 million in Q3, up from $515 million in Q2, underscoring continued gaps in domestic supply and strong consumer demand.
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Analysts at FMDA research, in their Q3 FX market report, noted that higher FX demand for food and manufactured products suggests a rising appetite for imported finished goods.
“Together, these trends indicate some rebalancing at the margin between production-related imports and finished goods, rather than a fundamental shift in FX demand structure,” they stated.
CBN data also showed that, in general, import-related foreign exchange demand declined in the third quarter of 2025 to $4.57 billion from $5.18 billion in the second quarter, driven mainly by lower FX demand from the oil and industrial sectors, noting that the moderation in import-related demand occurred alongside improving overall FX conditions during the quarter.
