Nigeria’s Payments for Professional Services Rise 39%

Nigeria’s payments for professional and other business services rose by 39.04 per cent to $1.81 billion in the second quarter of 2026, as increased expenditure on technical and consulting services contributed to a widening deficit in the country’s services account.

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Economic Report for the second quarter of 2026, payments for other business services increased from $1.30 billion in the first quarter, reflecting higher expenditure on technical, trade-related and professional consulting services.

The development contributed to an 18.29 per cent increase in Nigeria’s total services payments to $5.84 billion during the review period, while the services account deficit widened to $4.67 billion from $3.71 billion in the preceding quarter.

The report showed that the increase in services payments was driven largely by expenditure on other business services, transportation and travel, reflecting higher costs associated with professional services, logistics, education and healthcare-related travel.

Payments for transportation services increased by 9.47 per cent to $1.77 billion from $1.62 billion in the first quarter, while travel-related payments rose by 10.12 per cent to $1.49 billion from $1.36 billion.

The increase in transportation payments was attributed to higher sea freight charges, in line with rising merchandise imports, while increased travel expenditure was linked to education and health-related trips.

A breakdown of services payments showed that other business services accounted for 30.98 per cent of the total, followed by transportation at 30.38 per cent and travel at 25.60 per cent. Insurance and pension services accounted for 4.36 per cent, government services 3.04 per cent, telecommunications, computer and information services 2.03 per cent, while financial services constituted 1.72 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s earnings from services exports declined by 4.72 per cent to $1.17 billion in the second quarter, further widening the gap between payments for services sourced from abroad and receipts from services sold to other countries.

This was attributed the decline largely to lower receipts from government and travel services. Government services receipts fell to $70 million from $130 million in the preceding quarter, while travel receipts declined to $140 million from $210 million.

Transportation earnings also moderated to $590 million from $600 million, although financial services receipts increased to $180 million from $130 million, reflecting higher fee and commission income from cross-border banking and capital market transactions.

Transportation remained Nigeria’s largest source of services export earnings, accounting for 50.21 per cent of total receipts, followed by financial services at 15.46 per cent and travel at 12.20 per cent.

Merchandise export earnings increased by 29.08 per cent to $20.08 billion from $15.55 billion in the first quarter, while merchandise imports rose to $9.96 billion from $9.60 billion.

The increase in imports was driven mainly by non-oil products, which rose to $8.73 billion from $7.85 billion, reflecting higher global commodity prices and sustained demand for imported inputs and consumer goods.

Despite the higher services deficit, Nigeria’s current and capital account surplus increased to $7.54 billion from $4.49 billion in the preceding quarter, supported by stronger performance in merchandise trade and secondary income.