Foreign capital flow into Nigeria plummeted by more than half in 2020 to $9.68bn, its lowest level in four years, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

The NBS, in its capital importation report for the fourth quarter and full-year 2020, said the total value of capital importation into the country fell by 59.65 per cent or $14.3bn last year from $23.99bn in 2019.

Foreign capital flow into the country stood at $16.81bn in 2018, $12.23bn in 2017 and $5.12bn in 2016, the NBS data showed.

The statistics office said the total value of capital importation in Q4 stood at $1.07bn, down by 26.81 per cent compared to Q3 and by 71.87 per cent compared to the same period of 2019.

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“The largest amount of capital importation by type was received through other investments, which accounted for 73.22 per cent ($783.26m) of total capital importation, followed by Foreign Direct Investment, which accounted for 23.49 per cent ($251.27m) of total capital imported and portfolio investment which accounted for 3.29 per cent ($35.15m) of total capital imported in Q4 2020,” it said.

The NBS said the United Kingdom emerged as the top source of capital investment in Nigeria in Q4 with $236.88m, accounting for 22.14 per cent of the total capital inflow.