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Nigeria's Debt Profile: Smallest State Has Largest Debt

The debt stock data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that the smallest state in Nigeria- Lagos, with a landmass of 3,345km, has the largest debt burden among all states.

The state’s debt stock is 35.61% of the country's foreign borrowings. Kaduna (5.79%), Edo (5.64%), Cross River 4.08% and Enugu 3.23%, are all clustered behind Lagos. 

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The spread of domestic debts is more even; Lagos takes up only 10.85% of the stock in this category. Sokoto state borrows quite little locally; it owes just 0.78% of aggregate borrowing within Nigeria.

However, the federal government owes 78.23% of the country’s entire debt stock as at 31st December 2017, while the states owe just 21.77%. Nigeria’s foreign debt profile stands at $18.9 billion and its local borrowings amounted to N3.35 trillion.