Foreign direct investment (FDI) accounted for less than 4% of total capital imported into Nigeria in 2025, according to the latest capital importation report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The data indicates that the country’s external capital inflows remained heavily tilted toward more mobile portfolio funds, despite an improvement in absolute FDI volumes.

While total inflows strengthened markedly in 2025, the bulk of that increase came from foreign portfolio investors rather than long-term direct investors typically associated with factory investment, business expansion, and durable job creation.

Capital Inflows Surge, FDI Lags Behind

Data from the NBS report showed that Nigeria recorded total capital importation of $23.22 billion in 2025, up sharply from $12.32 billion in 2024.

However, out of the 2025 total, FDI contributed just $923.01 million, representing 3.97% of aggregate inflows.

This compares with $674.71 million in 2024, when FDI accounted for 5.48% of total capital importation.

This means FDI rose by $248.30 million year on year, or about 36.8%, but its share of total inflows still fell by 1.51 percentage points as faster growth in portfolio investment widened the gap.

Portfolio Flows Dominated 2025 Inflows

A breakdown of the data showed that portfolio investment remained the clear driver of capital importation in 2025. Portfolio inflows stood at $19.74 billion, more than double the $8.38 billion recorded in 2024.

This means portfolio investment accounted for 85.03% of total capital importation in 2025, up from 68.00% in 2024. More than eight out of every ten dollars that entered Nigeria during the year came through portfolio channels.

Quarterly data showed the dominance was consistent throughout the year. Portfolio investment made up 92.25% of total capital importation in the first quarter of 2025, before easing to 82.02% in the second quarter, 80.70% in the third quarter, and rising again to 85.14% in the fourth quarter.

By contrast, FDI’s quarterly contribution remained weak throughout the year. It accounted for 2.24% of total inflows in Q1 2025, 2.79% in Q2, 4.93% in Q3, and 5.55% in Q4.

Although the second half showed some improvement, FDI still remained a marginal component of overall capital importation.

In nominal terms, portfolio inflows of $19.74 billion were more than 21 times the size of FDI inflows at $923.01 million in 2025.

FDI Improved in Value, But Not Enough to Shift Structure

On a quarterly basis, FDI rose across 2025 from $126.29 million in Q1 to $142.67 million in Q2, then climbed sharply to $296.25 million in Q3 before reaching $357.80 million in Q4.

This shows a clear strengthening in direct investment momentum during the year, especially in the second half. Q4 was the strongest quarter for FDI in 2025 and accounted for roughly 38.8% of the full-year FDI total.

Combined, Q3 and Q4 delivered $654.05 million, meaning about 70.9% of all FDI recorded in 2025 came in the latter half of the year.