Image: Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has ranked Lagos State as the most indebted state in Nigeria, owing creditors a total of N1.22 trillion and $1.17 billion in domestic and external debts, respectively,
The statistics body said that Lagos State also recorded the highest external debt over the reference period with $1.17 billion, followed by Kaduna with $684.29 million, while the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) had the lowest with $26.80 million, followed by Zamfara with $41.93 million.
NBS, in its Q4 2025 domestic and external debt report, said that the country’s total debt stock, comprising domestic and external debt, rose from N153.29 trillion or $103.94 billion in Q3 2025 to N159.28 trillion or $110.97 billion in Q4 2025.
The report said this represented an increase of 3.90 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis, adding that total external debt stood at N74.43 trillion, while total domestic debt was N84.85 trillion in Q4 2025.
The share of external debt, in naira value, was 46.73 percent in Q4 2025, while the share of domestic debt, also in naira value, stood at 53.27 percent of total public debt.
While Lagos State had the highest domestic debt in Q4 2025 with N1.22 trillion, Rivers came second with N378.81 billion, while Jigawa State recorded the lowest with N1.60 billion, followed by Ondo with N8.42 billion.
According to the bureau, other heavily indebted states are: Bauchi with $220.57 million and N156.05 billion as external and domestic debts respectively; Delta with $63.42 million and N248.83 billion as external and domestic debts respectively; and Enugu with $99.88 million and N157.60 billion as external and domestic debts, respectively.
