Banks Shut 476 Branches In Three Years As CBN Pushes Digital Alternatives Data

Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria closed a net 476 branches and cash centres between 2022 and 2025, reducing their physical footprint by 8.8 per cent, according to the CBN’s 2025 Statistical Bulletin for the Financial Sector. The number of locations fell from 5,410 in 2022 to 4,934 in 2025, with the pace of contraction accelerating sharply branches fell by only 37 in 2023, before 229 closed in 2024 and another 210 in 2025, meaning about 92 per cent of the total decline occurred in the last two years. The decline happened even as the number of banks rose from 32 in 2022 to 34 in 2025.

Lagos recorded the largest absolute decline, losing a net 158 locations (9.9 per cent) to fall to 1,444 in 2025, though it remained the dominant hub, accounting for about 29 per cent of the national total. Abuja lost 38 locations (9.5 per cent), while Ekiti suffered one of the steepest contractions, nearly halving from 107 to 57 locations. Enugu, Oyo, Ondo, Plateau, Osun, Cross River and Rivers also recorded notable declines, and Kano and Kaduna saw sharp drops in 2025 after earlier growth. Some states bucked the trend, with Delta, Edo, Jigawa and Kogi expanding their branch networks over the period.

The figures highlight wide disparities in banking infrastructure distribution, with Lagos’s 1,444 locations dwarfing states like Yobe (23), Taraba (26) and Zamfara (28). The CBN’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Hakama Sidi-Ali, represented by Zubairu Salihu at the 2026 CBN Fair in Lokoja, called for greater adoption of alternative payment channels to expand financial access, particularly for farmers, traders and informal-sector operators with limited access to conventional banking.