Nigeria relies heavily on foreign food, spending $2.34 billion by 2025

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that the country is spending $2.34 billion on food imports in 2025, with the second quarter of this year recording higher demand.

The Apex Bank revealed the data in its latest quarterly statistical bulletin on sectoral foreign exchange utilization, which shows that the country is still heavily dependent on imported foodgrains.

Data analysis shows that the food import bill in 2025 is lower than the $2.53 billion recorded in 2024 at $186.4 million, which is a decrease of 7.37 percent.

Despite the decline, the figures show that food imports remained the main source of foreign exchange demand, with monthly expenditure remaining above $140 million throughout the year.

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The highest monthly food import expenditure in 2025 was recorded in September at $248.60 million, followed by December at $245.86 million and July at $229.70 million.

The lowest spending was recorded in April at $141.13 million, almost unchanged from March’s $141.30 million.

Further analysis shows that demand for food imports strengthened in the second half of the year. Between January and June 2025, the country spent $1.07 billion on food imports, compared with $1.28 billion between July and December.

This means that 54.55 percent of the total food import bill for 2025 was recorded in the second half of this year.

On an annual basis, food import spending fell sharply in February, March and August. The figure fell by 35.61 percent from $303.91 million in February 2024 to $195.68 million in February 2025, while March fell by 36.22 percent from $221.54 million to $141.30 million.

However, in several months there was an increase. July rose by 53.23 percent from $149.91 million in 2024 to $229.70 million in 2025, while January rose by 29.61 percent from $164.43 million to $213.11 million.

The data shows that even if Nigeria reduces its annual foreign exchange demand related to food imports by 2025, the country is still highly dependent on imported food, thereby exposing consumers to exchange rate pressures and global commodity price movements.