Cash held outside Nigeria’s banking system stood at N4.92 trillion in September 2026, accounting for 89.23 per cent of the N5.52 trillion currency in circulation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Money and Credit Statistics has revealed.
Analysis of the data showed that despite the increase in cash outside banks over the past year, its share of currency in circulation declined slightly, while cash accounted for a smaller proportion of the country’s expanding money supply.
A breakdown showed that currency outside banks rose by 10.26 per cent year-on-year from N4.47 trillion in September 2025 to N4.92 trillion in September 2026. On a month-on-month basis, it increased by one per cent from N4.87 trillion in August.
However, the proportion of currency in circulation held outside banks fell to 89.23 per cent in September from 90.15 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.
This suggests that although the amount of cash outside the banking system increased its share of total currency in circulation moderated. Currency in circulation, which represents cash held both within and outside banks, rose to N5.52 trillion in September from N4.95 trillion a year earlier, an increase of 11.40 per cent. It also increased by 1.50 per cent from N5.44 trillion in August.
