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Nigeria’s IMTO Inflows Hit Record $1.57bn as May, June Receipts Surge
Nigeria’s IMTO Inflows Hit Record $1.57bn as May, June Receipts Surge
Nigeria’s IMTO inflows rose to $1.57bn in Q2 2026, the highest quarterly total in the 2019–2026 series.
May and June inflows climbed year-on-year by 63.8 percent and 98.5 percent, respectively, offsetting April’s decline.
Q2 receipts increased 33.1 percent from $1.18bn a year earlier, following a record $1.29bn in Q1 2026.
October 26, () – Nigeria’s inflows through International Money Transfer Operators rose to a record $1.57bn in the second quarter of 2026, driven by a sharp increase in diaspora remittances received in May and June.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Q2 2026 Statistical Bulletin show that inflows totalled approximately $1.57bn between April and June, up from $1.18bn in the corresponding period of 2025.
The increase of about 33.1 percent established a new quarterly high in the available 2019–2026 series, surpassing the previous record of approximately $1.47bn recorded in the third quarter of 2024.
The latest performance also extended the momentum recorded in the first quarter, when IMTO inflows reached $1.29bn, up 45 percent from $888.47m in Q1 2025.
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May and June drive quarterly record
Monthly figures show that the second-quarter increase was concentrated in May and June, as both months recorded substantial year-on-year growth.
Channel
April inflows fell to $513.81m from $597.44m in April 2025, a decline of 14 percent.
May receipts, however, rose to $472.13m from $288.17m a year earlier, representing an increase of approximately 63.8 percent.
June recorded the strongest performance, with inflows reaching $580.16m, compared with $292.25m in June 2025. The increase of about 98.5 percent made June the quarter’s highest-performing month.
Combined, May and June generated approximately $1.05bn, accounting for about two-thirds of the quarter’s total inflows. Their gains more than offset April’s year-on-year decline.
The figures point to stronger remittance receipts during the quarter, although the monthly data alone do not establish what drove the increase or how much of it reflected changes in the volume of transfers, exchange-rate incentives or the use of formal transfer channels.
Quarterly inflows exceed previous highs
The latest figure marks a significant increase from the amounts recorded in earlier second quarters.
IMTO inflows stood at approximately $551.86m in Q2 2019 and $482.58m in Q2 2020, before rising to $638.19m in Q2 2021.
Receipts increased further to $954.61m in Q2 2022, but eased to $810.84m in Q2 2023. They subsequently climbed to about $1.26bn in Q2 2024 before declining to $1.18bn in Q2 2025.
The $1.57bn recorded in Q2 2026 exceeded the previous second-quarter peak by approximately $310m, or 24.6 per cent.
The quarterly performance also follows the $1.40bn recorded in Q4 2025 and the $1.29bn received in Q1 2026, indicating that inflows through formal money-transfer operators remained elevated in the first half of 2026.
CBN tightens oversight of remittance operators
Central Bank of Nigeria headquarters in Abuja Source Wikimedia Commons
The increase comes amid regulatory changes aimed at improving transparency and oversight in Nigeria’s remittance market.
In March 2026, the CBN directed international money transfer operators to open and maintain naira settlement accounts with authorised dealer banks.
The measure was intended to strengthen supervision of diaspora remittances and improve transparency in the foreign exchange market.
The directive followed the removal of the exchange-rate cap for IMTOs in January 2024.
Before that change, operators were required to quote rates within a band of minus 2.5 percent to plus 2.5 percent around the previous day’s closing rate on the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market.
The apex bank also issued revised guidelines governing IMTO operations in January 2024 as part of changes to the sector’s operating framework.
The latest figures represent a stronger trend than the first half of 2025, when IMTO inflows reportedly declined by 11.78 percent year-on-year.
However, the record inflow does not by itself establish how much additional foreign exchange reached the wider economy or how the receipts affected market liquidity.
Those outcomes depend partly on how remittances are settled, converted and channelled through the formal financial system.
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