Travel services in Nigeria
Nigeria: Travel services was 30.5% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Travel services in Nigeria, 1977–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of service imports, BoP.
Analysis
Nigeria recorded 30.5% for travel services in 2025.
That represents a change of up 20.5% on the previous year and up 6.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in Nigeria peaked at 40.1% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 3.6%, in 2005.
That places Nigeria 48th out of 198 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 48 years of available data.
Travel services in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | % of service imports, BoP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1977 | 11.2% | — |
| 1978 | 10.1% | -9.7% |
| 1979 | 7.9% | -22.4% |
| 1980 | 18.7% | +137.7% |
| 1981 | 21.8% | +16.9% |
| 1982 | 23.7% | +8.3% |
| 1983 | 20.2% | -14.8% |
| 1984 | 12.7% | -37.0% |
| 1985 | 12.4% | -2.6% |
| 1986 | 10.6% | -14.2% |
| 1987 | 6.3% | -40.5% |
| 1988 | 5.2% | -17.9% |
| 1989 | 30.3% | +485.0% |
| 1990 | 29.2% | -3.8% |
| 1991 | 34.3% | +17.5% |
| 1992 | 19.2% | -43.9% |
| 1993 | 10.9% | -43.2% |
| 1994 | 28.5% | +161.2% |
| 1995 | 19.6% | -31.2% |
| 1996 | 27.0% | +37.7% |
| 1997 | 38.5% | +42.6% |
| 1998 | 37.6% | -2.3% |
| 1999 | 17.9% | -52.6% |
| 2000 | 17.9% | +0.3% |
| 2001 | 17.9% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 17.9% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 31.4% | +75.4% |
| 2005 | 3.6% | -88.5% |
| 2006 | 23.5% | +551.0% |
| 2007 | 30.5% | +29.4% |
| 2008 | 40.1% | +31.7% |
| 2009 | 26.8% | -33.2% |
| 2010 | 26.1% | -2.7% |
| 2011 | 26.9% | +2.9% |
| 2012 | 25.7% | -4.5% |
| 2013 | 26.9% | +4.8% |
| 2014 | 23.3% | -13.3% |
| 2015 | 28.6% | +22.5% |
| 2016 | 9.2% | -67.9% |
| 2017 | 31.7% | +245.8% |
| 2018 | 31.0% | -2.4% |
| 2019 | 34.9% | +12.6% |
| 2020 | 28.0% | -19.8% |
| 2021 | 27.6% | -1.3% |
| 2022 | 21.5% | -22.2% |
| 2023 | 23.5% | +9.5% |
| 2024 | 25.3% | +7.8% |
| 2025 | 30.5% | +20.5% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 30.5% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 17.0%, 1.8× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 30.5% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 9.2%, 3.3× the median. (46 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Travel services in Nigeria changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | +551.0% | 3.6% | 23.5% |
| 1989 | +485.0% | 5.2% | 30.3% |
| 2017 | +245.8% | 9.2% | 31.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 9.7% | 7.9% | 11.2% | 3 |
| 1980s | 16.2% | 5.2% | 30.3% | 10 |
| 1990s | 26.3% | 10.9% | 38.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 23.3% | 3.6% | 40.1% | 9 |
| 2010s | 26.4% | 9.2% | 34.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 26.1% | 21.5% | 30.5% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More economy & growth data for Nigeria
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 04 - Annual real GDP 1.04 Percent per annum (2029)
- Africa's Development Dynamics (AfDD) Table 02 - Annual real GDP 3.32 Percent per annum (2029)
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), gaps 1.19 billion BoP, current US$ (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), per unit 0.0041 BoP, current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), per capita 5 BoP, current US$ per person (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), gaps filled 4.01 billion BoP, current US$ (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), annual 148.16 % change on previous year (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), per unit 0.0138 BoP, current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), per capita 16.86 BoP, current US$ per person (2025)
- Total reserves (includes gold, current US$), annual growth rate 13.91 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is travel services in Nigeria?
- Travel services in Nigeria was 30.5% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 40.1% in 2008.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.6% in 2005.
- How does Nigeria rank for travel services?
- Nigeria ranks 48th out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
- Is travel services rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Nigeria data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Travel services (% of service imports, BoP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 48 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Travel services cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy, or acquired from other economies by residents during visits to these other economies. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service imports which are services provided by non-residents to residents.