The latest Money and Credit Statistics report published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has indicated that the quantum of cash held outside Nigeria’s banking system declined to N4.92 trillion in June 2026, the lowest level in seven months.
The latest figures reflected that more physical currency were returning to the bank’s vaults amid the CBN’s continued push to deepen digital payments, reduce dependence on cash transactions and moderate inflation rate in the economy.
The apex bank’s data showed that currency outside banks fell from N5.41 trillion in December 2025 to N4.92 trillion in the month under review, representing a decline of N485.80 billion or 8.98% over six months.
According to the data, the June figure was the lowest since November 2025, when cash outside banks stood at N4.91 trillion.
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Similarly, the report indicated that the total currency in circulation dropped from N5.73 trillion in December 2025 to N5.52 trillion in June 2026, a reduction of N209.56 billion or 3.66%, showing that a larger proportion of physical cash was deposited back into commercial banks during the period rather than being permanently withdrawn from circulation.
However, the six-month decline was not entirely linear as a further analysis of the CBN’s data revealed that currency outside banks fell from N5.41 trillion in December to N5.25 trillion in January before dipping further to N5.19 trillion in February, although the CBN data did not capture the March 2026 figure, the stock reduced further to N5.08 trillion in April.
The drop in the cash volume trend was briefly reversed in May, when cash outside banks rose to N5.19 trillion, representing an increase of N109.34 billion or 2.15% compared with April, while in June, currency outside banks dropped by N270.97 billion month-on-month to N4.92 trillion, representing a 5.22% contraction, the largest monthly decline in the period covered by the report
In June 89.11% of all currency in circulation was outside banks, compared with 91.27% in May 2026 and 89.74% in June 2025, implying that for every N100 in circulation, Nigerians held approximately N89.11 outside banks in June 2026, compared with N91.27 a month earlier.
Compared with the corresponding month of last year, the ratio also dropped by 0.63 percentage points, suggesting a gradual improvement in formal cash intermediation despite the overall increase in currency circulating within the economy.
At the end of December 2025, approximately 94.33% of all currency in circulation was held outside banks, leaving only 5.67% within the banking system and by June 2026, the outside-bank share had dropped by over five percentage points to 89.11%, while the proportion of cash retained within banks nearly doubled to 10.89%.
The latest data from the apex bank on the cash outside banks suggested that although Nigeria remained a predominantly cash-based economy, there is an improvement in digital transactions in the country as fintechs and other digital payment players are deepening their services, particularly in urban cities.
