Trading activity in Nigeria's foreign exchange market experienced a significant decline in the week ended September 18, 2026. According to data from the FMDQ Foreign Exchange Market Analysis Report, the total turnover across the FX Spot and Derivatives markets dropped by 30.23% to $2.366 billion. This represents a $1.025 billion decrease from the $3.392 billion recorded in the preceding week. The sharp contraction was driven by a collapse in FX derivatives activity and a substantial decline in spot-market transactions.
FX Spot transactions stood at $2.340 billion during the week, down 21.06% or $624.13 million from the $2.964 billion recorded in the week ended September 11. Despite the decline, spot transactions accounted for 98.87% of total FX turnover during the week, compared with 87.38% in the previous week. This indicates a significant shift towards spot transactions in Nigeria's FX market.
In contrast, FX Derivatives transactions, comprising FX Forward trades, plummeted by 93.74% to just $26.78 million from $427.99 million a week earlier. The decline represented a $401.21 million contraction in weekly derivatives turnover and reduced the segment's share of total market activity to just 1.13%, from 12.62% in the previous week.
The contraction in weekly activity was also reflected in the market's daily average turnover. Total daily average FX turnover fell to $473.26 million during the week from $678.33 million in the preceding week. This represented a weekly decline of about $205.07 million in average daily transactions. FX Spot daily average turnover dropped from $592.73 million to $467.90 million, while the daily average for FX Derivatives fell dramatically from $85.60 million to $5.36 million.
The figures indicate that the decline in derivatives trading was substantially sharper than the contraction in spot transactions. The development comes amid increased attention to liquidity, price discovery, and risk-management instruments in Nigeria's foreign exchange market as businesses and investors navigate changing macroeconomic and financial conditions.
With almost 99% of total turnover concentrated in FX Spot transactions, the week's trading pattern highlighted the dominance of immediate currency transactions in the market. FX Spot turnover of $2.340 billion remained substantial despite the week-on-week decline. However, the 21.06% fall suggests that activity in the core segment of the market moderated considerably compared with the previous week.
The reduction in FX Spot transactions accounted for more than 60% of the total $1.025 billion decline in weekly FX turnover. The derivatives market contributed the remaining major portion of the contraction, with FX Forward turnover falling by $401.21 million. This significant decline in derivatives trading has shifted the structure of Nigeria's FX market further towards spot transactions.
Key points
- Nigeria's FX turnover dropped 30.23% to $2.366 billion in the week ended September 18, 2026.
- FX Derivatives transactions plummeted 93.74% to $26.78 million.
- FX Spot transactions accounted for 98.87% of total FX turnover during the week.
