By Abubakar Yunusa
Nigeria’s spending on food imports declined to $2.34 billion in 2025, representing a 7.37 per cent drop from the $2.53 billion recorded in 2024, according to the latest Quarterly Statistical Bulletin released by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The report showed that while the country’s food import bill moderated slightly, the decline was more pronounced when measured against overall foreign exchange utilisation.
Data from the apex bank revealed that food imports accounted for 4.97 per cent of total FX utilisation in 2025, compared to 9.49 per cent in 2024.
This came as total FX utilisation surged from $26.65 billion in 2024 to $47.17 billion in 2025, reflecting a sharp increase in foreign exchange demand across other sectors of the economy.
A breakdown of the figures indicated that Nigeria spent an average of $195.3 million monthly on food imports during the year.
The highest monthly expenditure was recorded in September at $248.60 million, followed by December with $245.86 million and July with $229.70 million.
Other monthly outflows included $213.11 million in January, $195.68 million in February, $141.30 million in March, $141.13 million in April, $202.83 million in May, $171.08 million in June, $175.55 million in August, $193.05 million in October and $185.45 million in November.
The figures showed that food import spending fell by $186.4 million year-on-year, even as total FX utilisation rose by $20.52 billion, representing an increase of about 77 per cent.
Consequently, food imports’ share of overall foreign exchange demand declined by 4.52 percentage points during the review period.
Analysts say the development may be linked to reduced import demand for certain food categories, increased local production and substitution efforts, or changes in the composition of other foreign exchange transactions.
However, the $2.34 billion spent on food imports underscores Nigeria’s continued reliance on foreign food supplies despite repeated government pledges to strengthen domestic agricultural production and achieve food security.
The CBN figures also align with trade data from the National Bureau of Statistics, which showed that food and beverage imports increased in naira terms to about N7.65 trillion in 2025, reflecting the impact of exchange rate movements on import costs.
