Visa, a global leader 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 the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Canada increased 40%. 

Outbound Travel Spend During Ramadan 

International travel spending by Nigerian Visa premium consumer cardholders increased by around 20%. Booking behaviour skewed toward shorter lead times, with 70% of trips booked within one month of travel. Spending to destinations including the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and France increased 40%.

Ramadan Spending Behaviour

Spending behaviour 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 (1 am–4 am) 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 behaviour 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) and captures 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 behaviour and design offers and experiences that remain relevant as consumer needs change.”