Nigeria’s total Capital Importation in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026 stood at $10.372 billion, an 83.83 per cent increase over the $5.64 billion recorded in Q1 2025 with foreign direct investment contributing only 1.3 per cent.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), reported this in its Q1 2026 capital importation released on Wednesday in Abuja. The Bureau also reported that when compared to the preceding quarter, capital importation increased by 60.97 per cent from $6,443.48 million in Q4 2025.

The report showed that Portfolio Investment ranked top with $9,862.34 million, accounting for 95.09 per cent, followed by Other Investment with $374.48 million, accounting for 3.61 per cent.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which the country desperately needs, recorded the least with $135.08 million, representing 1.30 per cent of total capital importation in Q1 2026, a drop from the $296.25 million and $357.80 million recorded in the third and fourth quarters of 2025 respectively.

In terms of inflow, the Banking sector recorded the highest with $7,550.04 million, representing 72.79 per cent of total capital imported in Q1 2026, followed by the Financing sector, valued at $2,429.19 million (23.42 per cent), and Production/Manufacturing sector with $152.27 million (1.47 per cent).

Within the period under review the bulk of the Capital Importation originated from the United Kingdom with $5,083.76 million, representing 49.01 per cent of the total capital imported and closely followed by the United States with $3,183.65 million (30.69 per cent) and the Republic of South Africa with $983.83 million (9.49 per cent).