Nigeria’s overseas alternate spending on overseas training and medical tourism fell sharply by 66% year-on-year within the first quarter of 2025.
Information from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Quarterly Statistical Bulletin for Q1 2025 confirmed that complete FX utilisation for training and well being companies dropped to $13.76 million in Q1 2025, in comparison with $40.49 million in Q1 2024.
The decline exhibits how Nigeria’s present FX insurance policies have reshaped spending behaviour amongst residents who depend on overseas companies for training and healthcare.
Schooling-related foreign exchange spending stays subdued
International alternate demand for instructional companies plunged by 64.1%, from $38.18 million in Q1 2024 to $13.7 million in Q1 2025. This class covers tuition, examination charges, and different instructional remittances to establishments overseas.
Month-to-month knowledge exhibits a gradual decline by means of early 2025. Nigerians spent $4.88 million in January, $4.69 million in February, and $4.13 million in March, a mixed complete of $13.7 million. This represents a 64% year-on-year fall from Q1 2024, when instructional foreign exchange spending hit $27.06 million in January, $9.3 million in February, and $1.82 million in March.
The info suggests a pointy contraction in tuition-related transactions in comparison with the beginning of 2024. Regardless of a marginal rebound from This autumn 2024’s complete of $7.67 million, the present determine displays much less demand from Nigerians looking for to fund research overseas.
Medical foreign exchange spending nearly disappears
The quantity Nigerians spent on overseas medical remedy in Q1 2025 was negligible. CBN knowledge exhibits solely $0.06 million was allotted to the “Well being Associated and Social Companies” class, down by 97.4% from $2.31 million in Q1 2024.
A month-to-month breakdown reveals $0.06 million in January, with no recorded spending in February or March 2025. This contrasts sharply with January 2024’s $2.3 million and the modest quantities recorded in earlier months.
The steep drop probably highlights how rising alternate charges have discouraged medical tourism as Nigerians who as soon as sought important remedy overseas now face larger prices, forcing many to show to native amenities.
What you need to know
Earlier in February 2024, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, stated that the quantity spent on overseas training and medical tourism contributes to Nigeria’s overseas alternate challenges.
In an in depth presentation to the Home of Representatives, Cardoso highlighted that an alarming $40 billion has been expended on overseas training and healthcare, an element contributing to the devaluation of the Naira.
The CBN governor decried the quantity of strain within the overseas alternate market amidst foreign exchange shortage, which provides to the depletion of naira worth.
Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigerians spent $38.17 million on overseas training bills between January and March 2024. The quantity spent has crashed by 83% from $218.87 million recorded in the identical interval of final 12 months.