Nigerian banks increased lending to households and businesses in the fourth quarter of 2025, reflecting stronger demand for credit and improved access to finance, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The apex bank’s Fourth Quarter 2025 Credit Conditions Survey (CCS), released on Monday, showed increases in loan demand, supply and approvals across personal and corporate lending, driven by mortgages, overdrafts, inventory financing and capital investment needs.
The survey, coordinated by the Statistics Department of the CBN’s Economic Policy Directorate, covered the three months ended December 31, 2025 and assessed secured and unsecured lending to households, private non-financial corporations, small businesses and other financial institutions.
According to the report, banks reported improved credit availability for secured, unsecured and corporate loans, largely due to changes in economic outlook and market share objectives. “For unsecured credit availability, the main factors affecting the increase were changing economic outlook and the cost and availability of funds,” the CBN stated.
Demand for credit also rose across most segments during the quarter. “All lending demand types increased in the fourth quarter of 2025, except credit to other financial corporations, which remained unchanged,” the report said.
The survey showed notable growth in consumer loans, mortgages, credit cards, overdrafts and personal loans to households, as well as increased lending to small, medium and large private companies, particularly in the real sector. Inventory finance and capital investments were identified as the main drivers of higher corporate loan demand.
However, the CBN noted rising default rates across secured, unsecured and corporate lending, despite higher approval levels for secured and corporate loans. While banks showed greater willingness to lend to borrowers with collateral, the report raised concerns about the widening gap between credit access and repayment discipline, noting that reasons for the higher defaults were not specified.
