Visa, one of the global leaders in digital payments, today released its latest consumer spending insights for the Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr period in Nigeria, based on the Visa Consulting & Analytics Retail Spend Monitor. During this period, spending on Visa premium consumer cards increased 20% year-over-year, with spend share up +10% percentage points. This reflected higher spending on travel, everyday retail, and food-related categories.
Key seasonal spending trends include:
Inbound Travel Spend During Ramadan
Spending by international visitors using Visa premium consumer cards in Nigeria increased 40%. Spending from United States of America, United Kingdom and Canada increased 40%.
Outbound Travel Spend During Ramadan
International travel spending from Nigeria on Visa premium consumer cards increased around 20%. Booking behavior skewed toward shorter lead times, with 70% of trips booked within one month of travel. Spending to destinations including United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and France increased 40%.
Ramadan Spending Behavior
Spending behavior during Ramadan reflected both pre-month stock-up and in-month in-store activity. In the week preceding Ramadan (Feb 12-18), food and grocery spending rose 25% compared to the prior week (Feb 5-11). Spending activity also occurred later in the day, with late-night spending (1am–4am) up 35% compared to non-Ramadan weeks.
Spending Peaks Around Eid Al‑Fitr
Spending peaked around Eid Al-Fitr, with total spending up 25% during the Eid period (Mar 16-19) compared to the preceding days (12–15 Mar). During Eid, spending on food and restaurants increased 80% compared to the preceding days.
Andrew Uaboi, Vice President and Country Manager for Visa in West Africa, said,
“The Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr period saw higher spending across travel and everyday retail categories, reflecting both inbound visitor activity and sustained local spending. These insights highlight how consumer behavior shifts during key seasonal moments and underscore the opportunity for businesses to respond with more relevant and seamless commerce experiences.”
The VCA Retail Spend Monitor was produced by Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA), capturing total retail, travel, and experience-related activity during the Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr period (Feb 20 – Mar 20, 2026), based on a subset of VisaNet data and complemented by survey-based estimates for other payment methods.
Nicolas Khoury, SVP, Head of Visa Consulting & Analytics, CEMEA, said:
“The VCA Retail Spend Monitor provides a view of how consumer spending evolves across the Ramadan and Eid Al-Fitr period, from changes in travel patterns to shifts in everyday spending. These insights help issuers and merchants better understand seasonal behavior and design offers and experiences that remain relevant as consumer needs change.”
About Visa’s Retail Spend Monitor
The Retail Spend Monitor provides insights on national retail sales across all payment types. The findings are based on a subset of aggregate retail sales activity in the Visa payments network, coupled with survey-based estimates for other forms of payment. This comprehensive analysis provides valuable insights into consumer spending behaviors and trends, aiding retailers in strategic planning and market positioning. Premium card definition – Following cards are mapped under Premium category-VISA SIGNATURE, VISA SIGNATURE PREFERRED, VISA INFINITE, VISA INFINITE PRIVILEGE, VISA ULTRA HIGH NET WORTH.
About Visa
Visa (NYSE: V) is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, sellers, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere and see access as foundational to the future of money movement. Learn more at Visa.com.
The views, opinions, and/or estimates, as the case may be (“views”), expressed herein are those of the Visa Consulting and Analytics team and do not necessarily reflect those of Visa executive management or other Visa employees and affiliates. This content is intended for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for operational, marketing, legal, technical, tax, financial or other advice and do not in any way reflect actual or forecasted Visa operational or financial performance. Visa neither makes any warranty or representation as to the completeness or accuracy of the views contained herein, nor assumes any liability or responsibility that may result from reliance on such views. These views are often based on current market conditions and are subject to change without notice.
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The post Visa Insights Reveal Seasonal Spending Up 20% in Nigeria appeared first on BellaNaija – Showcasing Africa to the world. Read today!.
Spending on Visa premium consumer cards increased 20% year-over-year during the Ramadan
and Eid Al-Fitr period, supported by higher travel and everyday retail spending.
The post Visa Insights Reveal Seasonal Spending Up 20% in Nigeria appeared first on BellaNaija – Showcasing Africa to the world. Read today!. Read More
