As at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, Nigeria’s public debt portfolio stood at N27.40trn ($84.05bn). This represents an increase of 4.54% when compared to the third quarter of 2019, when the country recorded a total public debt of N26.21trn. These figures are becoming increasingly alarming considering the fact that as at Q1 2013, Nigeria’s public debt stood at only N7.53trn.
The external component of the Q4 2019 debt rose by a whopping 9% within 3 months! The external debt now accounts for 33% of Nigeria’s total debt stock.
Also, the domestic debt stock at N18.37trn ($56.37bn) accounted for 67% of the total nation’s debt. This represents a 2% increase when compared to the N17.94trn of the previous quarter.
Putting the figures in perspective; the country borrowed a total of N37,620 every second in the last 12 months (i.e. Q4 2018 to Q4 2019).
Also, should we decide to distribute Nigeria’s debt profile across the country’s population of 200 million, each citizen currently will owe the sum of N137,007.
It is worth noting that the bulk of the domestic debts originated from the Federal Government, with the FG accounting for 79.59% of the total domestic debts. 
Graph Showing Nigeria’s debt profile Growth from Q1 2015 – Q4 2019
