The value of dollars traded in Nigeria’s foreign exchange market fell 22.23% to $2.62 billion in the week ended October 16, 2026, from $3.37 billion the previous week, as spot trading slowed and forward transactions dropped sharply.
According to the latest FMDQ report, which tracks foreign exchange transactions between authorised banks and their customers, total trading fell by $749.15 million.
The decline for the review week reverses part of the 98.58% jump recorded in the week ended October 9.
Forward transactions, which let businesses and investors agree today on an exchange rate for a currency purchase or sale at a future date, fell 81.14% to $24.89 million from $131.95 million. They accounted for only 0.95% of total turnover, down from 3.92%.
The drop is a weekly turnover figure, not a fall in outstanding forward contracts. It measures the contracts executed during the week.
Spot transactions, which involve buying or selling dollars for near-immediate delivery, fell 19.83% to $2.60 billion from $3.24 billion, a decline of $642.09 million.
Spot trading made up about 85.7% of the dollar decline, while forwards made up about 14.3%. The forward market fell much faster in percentage terms, but spot trading accounted for most of the dollars lost.
Weekly turnover remains above the $1.70 billion recorded in the week ended October 2, which fell 35.41%.
Spot trading now makes up almost all reported turnover, at about 104 times Forward turnover, compared with about 24.5 times a week earlier.
Despite the wide swing in Forwards turnover, the Naira has appreciated across contract tenors in that segment of Nigeria’s money market.
