The Central Bank of Nigeria has disclosed that bank customers withdrew a total of N923.16bn from bank vaults between May 2024 and May 2025, as reflected in its Money and Credit Statistics.
This figure highlights significant changes in the volume of currency held outside banks and the total currency circulating in the economy during the period.
As of May 2025, the currency held outside banks amounted to N4.63tn, up from N4.57tn in April 2025.
This marks a 1.42 per cent increase month-on-month. When compared with May 2024, this shows a substantial rise of 25 per cent, from N3.71tn, indicating a sharp withdrawal of cash from the banking system.
The N923.16bn withdrawn by bank customers over the year is a clear indication of the growing trend of holding cash outside the banks. Currency in circulation, which includes both cash in banks and cash held outside, was recorded at N5.01tn in May 2025.
This represents a negligible decrease of 0.0002 per cent compared to the previous month, but a 26.45 per cent year-on-year increase, from N3.97tn in May 2024.
