Nigeria’s International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) inflows declined by $193.14 million in the first quarter of 2025. 

Data from the CBN’s quarterly statistical bulletin shows that inflows fell to $888.39 million in Q1 2025, compared to $1.08 billion in the same period of 2024.

This represents a 17.8% decline year-on-year and highlights the fragile momentum of diaspora remittances into Africa’s largest economy.

Although lower than last year, inflows in the first quarter of 2025 still outpaced the $770.23 million recorded in Q1 2023, suggesting that remittance levels remain elevated compared to pre-2024 levels.

However, the sharp drop from last year underlines the challenge facing policymakers in sustaining inflows amid global economic uncertainty and domestic foreign exchange pressures.

What the data shows 

The monthly data shows a consistent slowdown across January, February and March when compared with 2024 figures.

In January 2025, inflows were $281.97 million, down from $390.86 million in January 2024, reflecting a 27.9% fall.

February 2025 recorded $288.82 million, compared to $326.91 million in February 2024, a 11.6% decline.

March inflows stood at $317.60 million, lower than $363.76 million in the same month of 2024, a 12.7% drop.

When measured against 2023, however, inflows in February and March 2025 showed some resilience, outpacing the $195.23 million and $279.79 million posted in those months, respectively. This indicates that while momentum has slowed relative to 2024’s surge, remittance flows are not yet collapsing.

Source: Nairametrics