The National Bureau of Statistics says Lagos State has the highest debt record in both domestic and foreign or external debt among the 36 states and the federal capital territory at the end of the fourth quarter (Q4) 2024.
According to the latest domestic and foreign debt report published by the NBS, Nigeria’s public debt stock rose from N87.91 trillion ($114.35 billion) in the third quarter of 2023 to N97.33 trillion ($108.23 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2024.
However, a breakdown of state indebtedness shows that Lagos State recorded the highest domestic debt of N1.05 trillion in Q4 2023, followed by Delta with N373.41 billion.
On the foreign loan portfolio Lagos State top the list with external debt of $1.24 billion, followed by Kaduna State with $587.07 million.
On the contrary, Jigawa recorded the lowest domestic debt at N42.76 billion, followed by Kebbi at N60.69 billion.
“Borno recorded the lowest external debt with 20.49 million dollars, followed by Yobe with 21.49 million dollars,” the NBS stated.
Meanwhile, a breakdown of the country’s debt shows that external debt stood at N38.22 trillion ($42.50 billion), while that domestic debt was N59.12 trillion ($65.73 billion) in Q4, 2023
“However, the share of external debt to total public debt stood at 39.26 per cent in Q4 2023, while domestic debt was recorded at 60.74 per cent,” the report said.
