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Manufactured goods drove imports as oil products pushed total to ₦15.29 trillion in Q2 2025

₦7.88 trillion worth of manufactured goods made up 51.6% of imports, underscoring Nigeria’s dependence on foreign industrial products.
Other petroleum oil products accounted for ₦2.79 trillion (18.2%) of imports, showing continued reliance on external energy supplies despite Nigeria’s oil-rich status.
₦1.72 trillion in raw material imports (11.3%) highlights the gap in local processing capacity.
Solid minerals (₦70.9 bn, 0.46%) and energy goods (₦150 mn, almost 0%) show almost no role in imports.

Nigeria’s foreign trade hit ₦38 trillion in Q2 2025, driven by strong export growth

Total trade in Q2 2025 was valued at ₦38.04tn.
Imports accounted for ₦15.29tn, led by manufactured goods and petroleum products.
Exports reached ₦22.75tn, boosted mainly by crude oil.
The trade gap favoured Nigeria with a surplus of ₦7.46tn.

Nigeria’s trade balance from 2008 to 2023 showed exports outpacing imports with a 57.7% share

Nigeria maintained a positive trade balance, with exports accounting for 57.7% against imports at 42.3%.
Oil and gas remain the backbone of Nigeria’s export dominance, shaping the overall surplus.
The import share reflects the country’s reliance on foreign goods, particularly refined petroleum, machinery, and food products.
Sustaining export strength while reducing import dependency remains key to Nigeria’s long-term economic resilience.

After the 2020 crash, US-Nigeria trade value climbed to $10B+ in 2024

Key Takeaways:

The US' trade deficit with Nigeria narrowed significantly, shifting from a $5.14 billion deficit in 2017 to a $1.69 billion surplus in 2024.
US goods exports to Nigeria reached $4.2 billion in 2024, representing a 92% increase from the $2.2 billion recorded in 2017.
US goods imports from Nigeria totalled $5.9 billion in 2024, a 20% decrease from the $7.3 billion recorded in 2017.
The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted bilateral trade in 2020, but both imports and exports began recovering steadily from 2021 onwards.
By 2024, trade had rebounded substantially, with US imports from Nigeria reaching $5.87 billion and exports to Nigeria reaching $4.17 billion.
Despite experiencing persistent trade deficits from 2017 through most of the period, the US achieved trade surpluses with Nigeria in 2020 and 2021.
Total goods trade between the US and Nigeria ranged from $4 billion to approximately $10 billion.

Over 80% of Nigeria’s imports in 2024 came from manufacturing and oil products

Key takeaways:

Manufactured goods accounted for 44.2% of Nigeria’s total imports.
Petroleum products (excluding crude oil) made up 38% of the import value.
Raw materials represented 11% of the total import value.
Agricultural imports contributed 6.2% to the overall import value.
The total import value stood at ₦60.59 trillion in 2024, from ₦30.86 trillion in 2023.
The energy resources sector made a negligible amount in import value, while no record was made for the crude oil sector.

Nigeria's trade surplus peaked at ₦16.8t in 2012, reaching its lowest in 2023

Between 2008 and 2015, Nigeria experienced consistent trade surpluses.

In 2023, Nigeria recorded the least trade surplus in 16 years since 2008.

Nigeria recorded trade deficits in three years (2016, 2020, and 2021) since 2008.
2021's ₦1.9 trillion deficit marked a downturn in trade performance

Nigeria: Distribution of generated Value Added Tax (VAT) by sector for Q1 2020 and Q1 2021

Of the total VAT generated in Q1 2021, Non-Import (foreign) VAT recorded a 116% increase — the highest compared with the same period of 2020. Here is a breakdown of the VAT generated by sectors in Q1 2020 and Q1 2021.