Nigeria recorded a balance of payment (BOP) surplus of $6.83 billion in 2024, marking a sharp reversal from consecutive deficits posted in the prior two years.

The latest figures, released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), signal a broad-based resurgence in the country’s external finances, aided by wide-ranging macroeconomic reforms, stronger trade flows, and a renewed sense of investor confidence.

The BOP, which measures the country’s financial transactions with the rest of the world, swung from a deficit of $1.21 billion in 2023 to a $6.83 billion surplus in 2024, underpinned by a sharp improvement in the current and capital account positions.

This comes months after Nigeria reported a $5.14 billion current account surplus in the first nine months of 2023, which analysts at the time said could provide support for Nigeria’s external reserves and the exchange rate.

That backstory, detailed in a previous Nairametrics article, foreshadowed the broader turnaround now reflected in the full-year BOP data for 2024.