Key points

• Consumer credit grew 1.6% to N3.18 trillion in May, with personal loans up 1.98% to about N2.06 trillion.
• The CBN’s PMI stayed below 50 at 49.6, signaling contraction, while headline inflation rose to 15.93%.
• The 2026 Access to Financial Services survey found 40.8% of formal borrowers use loans for coping, up from 31.7% in 2023.

Nigerians held an estimated N2.06 trillion in personal loans at the end of May 2026, according to figures derived from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Economic Report, as households leaned harder on credit to get through a period of weak spending and persistent cost pressures.

Total consumer credit outstanding rose 1.6% to N3.18 trillion in May from N3.13 trillion in April, an additional N50 billion in a single month.

Personal loans grew 1.98% and accounted for 64.78% of the total, while retail loans, which are tied more directly to purchases of goods and services, rose a slower 0.9% to about N1.12 trillion.

“Personal loans remained the dominant component of consumer credit,” the CBN said.

Borrowing into a weak economy

The increase came against a difficult backdrop. The CBN’s composite Purchasing Managers’ Index stood at 49.6 points in May, up marginally from 49.4 but still below the 50-point line that separates growth from contraction.

The bank attributed the reading to subdued demand, declining new orders and elevated production costs, with weak consumer spending and higher energy costs weighing on industry and services.

Inflation did not help. Headline inflation edged up to 15.93% from 15.69% in April, although month-on-month inflation slowed to 1.75% from 2.13%.

Consequently, households were taking on more debt at precisely the moment their purchasing power was being squeezed.

Credit for coping, not building

A separate survey sharpens the picture. The 2026 Access to Financial Services in Nigeria Survey found that 40.8% of formal borrowers now take loans mainly for consumption and coping, up from 31.7% in 2023.

That 9.1-percentage-point jump made survival borrowing the largest single purpose of formal credit, overtaking productive enterprise borrowing, which fell from 40.2% to 34.3%. Borrowing for household assets slipped to 23.4% from 25.2%.

“We need to ensure that credit builds productive capacity and does not produce distress,” the report warned.

The reach of credit has widened. Formal borrowing rose from 6% of adults in 2023 to 10% in 2026, or about 11.9 million people, and 36% of adults have access to some form of credit once informal lenders are counted.

Use among informally employed Nigerians tripled to 15%, and borrowing among 18- to 35-year-olds rose from 4% to 10%.

However, the strain is visible. About 45.8% of formal credit users reported some or serious repayment stress, and 83.8% said they were experiencing ongoing financial stress.

Meanwhile, the data suggests Nigeria’s consumer credit boom is being driven less by confidence than by necessity.