Nigeria’s foreign exchange market recorded a major structural shift in 2025, as total inflows surged to $112.27 billion, with private-sector (autonomous) sources now driving nearly two-thirds of all dollar supply.
According to data from the Financial Market Dealers Association (FMDA), autonomous inflows accounted for 64.94% of total FX inflows in 2025, highlighting a growing reliance on private capital flows such as remittances, portfolio investments, non-oil exports, and financial services earnings.
Autonomous inflows rose to $72.91 billion in 2025, up from $59.29 billion in 2024 and $41.80 billion in 2023, which reflected a near-doubling within two years and confirmed their rising dominance in Nigeria’s FX ecosystem.
Total FX inflows climbed from $99.44 billion in 2024 to $112.27 billion in 2025, while net inflows through the economy also strengthened to $66.67 billion, compared to $58.84 billion the previous year.
The report highlights a gradual but decisive shift in market structure, with autonomous sources increasingly displacing Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) interventions as the primary driver of FX liquidity. CBN-related inflows slipped slightly to $39.36 billion in 2025 from $40.15 billion in 2024, even as the apex bank maintained its stabilising role in the market.
