By Chibuzor Alli
Nigeria recorded an average of 9,611 registered debtors in the first quarter of 2026, up 52.2% from a year earlier, according to Central Bank of Nigeria data.
However, the figure was 88.5% lower than the average recorded in the final quarter of 2025, when debtor registrations surged to 83,370.
The figures, contained in the CBN’s Quarterly Statistics and sourced from the National Collateral Registry, point to stronger credit activity compared with the same period last year, but also a sharp reversal from the unusually high levels recorded in the final quarter of 2025.
The average number of registered debtors increased from 6,313 in the first quarter of 2025 to 9,611 in the first quarter of 2026.
Monthly registrations rose from 7,143 in January to 9,786 in February and 11,904 in March.
By comparison, registrations had climbed sharply in the previous quarter, from 74,311 in October to 83,860 in November and 91,939 in December 2025.
Individuals lead debtor registrations
Individuals accounted for the largest share of registered debtors during the quarter.
The number of individual debtors averaged 8,409 in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 54.1% from the 5,458 average recorded in the same period of 2025.
Individual registrations rose from 6,190 in January to 8,499 in February and 10,539 in March.
The March figure was 77.1% higher than the 5,950 individual debtors recorded in March 2025.
However, the quarterly average remained 88% below the 69,993 individual debtors recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025. Registrations peaked at 77,053 in December before falling sharply in the first quarter.
Businesses also recorded increases compared with the first quarter of 2025, although their numbers remained well below the levels seen at the end of last year.
Large-business debtors rose from 231 in January to 455 in February and 476 in March, giving a quarterly average of 387, compared with 104 in the first quarter of 2025.
That represents an increase of 272%.
Medium-business debtors averaged 594 in the first quarter of 2026, compared with 467 a year earlier, an increase of 27.2%.
Small-business debtors, however, averaged 174, down from 252 in the first quarter of 2025, representing a 31% decline.
Banks and other creditors
The number of creditors also increased across several categories during the quarter.
Deposit Money Banks rose from 88 creditors in January 2025 to 108 in March 2025. In 2026, the corresponding figure increased from 144 in January to 1,943 in March.
Microfinance banks remained the largest category, rising from 5,066 in January 2025 to 6,542 in March. In 2026, the number increased from 6,471 in January to 9,297 in March.
Non-bank financial institutions also increased, reaching 449 in March 2026, compared with 137 a year earlier.
Despite the increases, creditors averaged 83,370 in the fourth quarter of 2025, meaning the first-quarter 2026 average represented an 88.5% decline.
The data therefore show an improvement in access to credit through the collateral financing system compared with the first quarter of 2025, but a substantial fall from the exceptional level recorded in the final quarter of last year.
Lending remains concentrated
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group said monetary easing had helped support credit expansion but warned that lending remained concentrated in some sectors.
“Credit to the private sector grew 24.0 per cent in February 2026, then moderated to 6.9 per cent by the end of H1-2026, but remained above the 4.0 per cent expansion recorded in H1-2025,” NESG stated.
Services accounted for 58.4% of total bank credit in the first half of 2026, up from 55.7% in the same period of 2025.
Oil and gas accounted for 27.8%, while non-oil industrial sectors received 6.7% and agriculture 7.1%.
Within the productive sectors, manufacturing received 8.3% of bank credit, construction 4.6% and real estate 1.6%.
“This concentration of bank credit suggests that the expansion in lending is not being matched by broad-based access to finance for investment and expansion, particularly in sectors with strong employment and productivity potential,” the group stated.
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise also said high interest rates continued to limit private-sector investment and access to finance.
The CPPE Chief Executive Officer, Dr Muda Yusuf, said: “High interest rates continued to constrain private-sector investment and access to credit, while elevated energy costs, inadequate electricity supply, logistics inefficiencies and weak transport infrastructure sustained a high-cost operating environment.”
Mr Yusuf said manufacturing, agriculture and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises continued to face competitiveness challenges despite improvements in macroeconomic stability.
He said the economy remained on a gradual recovery path but required deeper structural reforms to translate macroeconomic stability into stronger real-sector performance and improved household welfare.
Trade credit rises
The increase in debtor registrations during the first quarter also coincided with stronger bank lending to the trade sector.
Credit to trade from Deposit Money Banks rose from N4.67tn in January to N5.54tn in February and N6.29tn in March, representing a 34.6% increase during the quarter.
The CBN reduced its Monetary Policy Rate by 50 basis points to 26.5% in February 2026 as part of measures to support economic activity, according to the NESG.
The first-quarter figures suggest that credit activity improved compared with a year earlier, but the sharp decline from the fourth-quarter peak and the concentration of lending in some sectors continue to raise questions about how effectively credit expansion is translating into wider business investment, job creation and productivity.
The CBN said registration of financing statements on the National Collateral Registry began in November 2016.
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