Nigeria's total public debt has reached its highest level ever recorded, as Africa's most populous nation continues to rely on borrowing to meet its fiscal obligations.

The country's debt profile climbed to 144.6 trillion naira at the end of 2024, up from 97.3 trillion naira the previous year, according to data from the Debt Management Office (DMO) released on Friday.

The debt office revealed this in its latest publication on Nigeria's debt portfolio on Friday, April 4.

This indicates that the country's debt stock has increased by 48.58% compared to the 97.34 trillion naira reported as of December 31, 2023.

In terms of dollars, Nigeria's debt profile was $94.23 billion as of December 31, 2024, compared to $108.23 billion in the same period in 2023.

Analysis of the report shows that Nigeria's public debt worsened by 47.32 trillion naira during the year under review.

The sharp increase in public debt is mainly due to a significant increase in external and domestic borrowing.

According to the report, Nigeria's external debt increased by 83.89% to 70.29 trillion naira from 38.22 trillion naira.

This sharp increase was largely attributed to new external borrowing obtained during the year, as well as to the impact of the depreciation of the naira, which inflated the naira equivalent of dollar debt.

Domestic debt also increased by 25.77 percent, from 59.12 trillion naira to 74.38 trillion naira.

On a quarterly basis, the debt stock increased by 2.35 trillion naira compared to the 142.32 trillion naira reported as of September 30, 2024.