# Remittances to Nigeria

> Remittances from Nigerians abroad are one of the country's largest sources of foreign exchange, reaching $20.93 billion in 2024 according to the Central Bank of Nigeria, an 8.9% increase on 2023. Official figures capture only formal, bank-and-IMTO-channelled transfers; independent estimates suggest informal channels add substantially more on top.

**Category:** Diaspora · **Updated:** 2026-07-26 19:36:35 · **Canonical:** https://nigeriastuff.org/a/remittances-to-nigeria

## Key facts
- **Personal remittances, 2024:** $20.93 billion (CBN, up 8.9% year-on-year)
- **IMTO-channelled remittances, 2024:** $4.73 billion (up 43.5% on 2023's $3.30 billion)
- **Cumulative remittances, 2020–2024:** Over $90 billion (NiDCOM, cited to National Assembly)
- **Overall balance of payments surplus, 2024:** $6.83 billion (CBN)
- **Estimated informal-channel uplift:** At least 35–75% on top of officially recorded flows (World Bank 2006; Freund & Spatafora 2005, via PwC)
- **Regulator of Nigerian remittance channels:** Central Bank of Nigeria, via licensed International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs)
- **As of:** 22 July 2026

## Sources
- Personal remittances hit $20.93bn in 2024 — CBN — Punch Newspapers (citing Central Bank of Nigeria data) (https://punchng.com/personal-remittances-hit-20-93bn-in-2024-cbn/)
- Nigeria's diaspora remittances exceed $90bn in five years — NiDCOM — Punch Newspapers (https://punchng.com/nigerias-diaspora-remittances-exceed-90bn-in-five-years-nidcom/)
- Migration and Development Brief: remittances flows — World Bank / KNOMAD (https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/migration/brief/remittances-knomad)
- The Economic Power of Nigeria's Diaspora — PwC Nigeria (https://www.pwc.com/ng/en/pdf/the-economic-power-of-nigerias-diaspora.pdf)
- CBN foreign exchange market structure (NFEM) and remittance-scheme wind-down — Central Bank of Nigeria (https://www.cbn.gov.ng/intops/FXMarket.html)

_NigeriaStuff.org — free encyclopedic reference on Nigeria. Full article at the canonical URL above._