Mineral fuels dominate China’s imports from Nigeria, accounting for nearly 60% of the total trade value

Key Takeaways:

In 2023, China imported $1.41 billion worth of mineral fuels and oils from Nigeria, making it the leading import category.
The top three import categories (mineral fuels, ores, and salt/earth materials) together made up nearly 89% of the total import value.
Nigeria’s exports to China are largely raw materials and natural resources, with minimal contribution from manufactured goods.
The top ten product categories accounted for almost 99% of China’s total imports from Nigeria.
Agricultural and animal products such as oil seeds, raw hides, and spices also formed part of Nigeria’s export portfolio.
China’s total imports from Nigeria were valued at $2.37 billion in 2023.

In 2023, mineral fuels, oils, and distillation products were China’s largest imports from Nigeria, valued at $1.41 billion. This was followed by imports of ores, slag, and ash, which amounted to $399.09 million, and salt, sulphur, earth, stone, plaster, lime, and cement, valued at $305.91 million. Copper imports totaled $142.07 million, reflecting China's demand for industrial inputs.

Nigeria also exported a range of agricultural and animal products to China, including oil seeds ($50.73 million), raw hides and skins ($7.85 million), and coffee, tea, maté, and spices ($7.39 million).

Source:

Trading Economics, UN Comtrade

<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://intelpoint.co/insights/mineral-fuels-dominate-chinas-imports-from-nigeria-accounting-for-nearly-60-of-the-total-trade-value/" title="Mineral fuels dominate China’s imports from Nigeria, accounting for nearly 60% of the total trade value"><img src="https://intelpoint.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Chinas-top-imports-from-Nigeria-in-2023.webp" style="width: 80%; height: auto; max-width:960px;-ms-interpolation-mode: bicubic; margin: 0 auto; display: block;" alt="Chart: Mineral fuels dominate China’s imports from Nigeria, accounting for nearly 60% of the total trade value"/></a><br><span>Find more insights at <a href="https://intelpoint.co/insights?utm_source=Insight%20Embed&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=Mineral+fuels+dominate+China%E2%80%99s+imports+from+Nigeria%2C+accounting+for+nearly+60%25+of+the+total+trade+value" target="_blank" style="color: #4f9acc; text-decoration: none;">Intelpoint</a>.</span></div>Copied to clipboard!

Period:

2023

HTML code to embed chart

Want a bespoke report?

Reach out

Related Insights

Morocco nearly matched South Africa in Africa’s vehicle import market in 2025

South Africa led with $8.52 billion, only $140 million ahead of Morocco.
Morocco’s imports have grown steadily, while South Africa’s 2025 figure was a recovery toward its 2012 peak.
Egypt ranked third, followed by Algeria and Nigeria.
The top 10 markets accounted for 67.1% of Africa’s $56.48 billion total.
Road vehicle imports include vehicles, parts, motorcycles, trailers, and semi-trailers.

Africa’s merchandise exports to China in 2025

Africa exported a record $86.2bn worth of goods to China in 2025.
China received about 12.5% of Africa’s total merchandise exports.
Annual exports remained below $10bn until 2004, before accelerating sharply.
Export values have remained relatively high since 2021 despite earlier downturns.
The trade relationship remains heavily commodity-led, with limited manufactured exports.

Africa’s export map changed, but only three economies escaped heavy reliance on one buyer

Only 3 of 52 African economies met the export-market diversification test in 2025.
Nigeria recorded the largest and most sustained shift, with its top-buyer share falling from 43.1% to 9.9%.
Madagascar’s top-market share dropped from 40.0% to 14.9% and has remained below 20% since 2021.
Libya narrowly qualified at 19.5%, after remaining above the threshold in 2024.
The test measures reduced dependence on one export destination, not greater product diversification.

South Africa, Egypt and Morocco accounted for nearly 40% ($313b) of Africa’s merchandise imports in 2025

Africa imported merchandise worth $788.9 billion in 2025, representing about 3% of global merchandise imports.
South Africa was Africa’s largest merchandise importer, with imports valued at $128.1 billion.
Egypt ranked second at $97.5 billion, followed by Morocco at $87.4 billion.
The three largest importers accounted for $313 billion, or 39.7% of Africa’s total merchandise imports.
South Africa alone accounted for about 16.2% of the continental total.
The five largest importers, including Algeria and Nigeria, were responsible for $404.6 billion, or 51.3% of Africa’s imports.
Nigeria ranked fifth, with merchandise imports valued at $41.5 billion.

Africa has never sold more than 20% of its goods exports within the continent in three decades

Only 16.9% of Africa’s merchandise exports were sold to other African countries in 2024.
Africa had the second-lowest intra-continental export share, ahead only of Oceania’s 4.8%.
Europe recorded the highest share at 65.6%, followed by Asia at 58.4% and the Americas at 54.0%.
Europe’s intra-continental export share was nearly four times Africa’s.
Africa’s share increased from 12.1% in 1995 to 16.9% in 2024, a rise of 4.8 percentage points.
Despite this long-term improvement, Africa remained below its 2015 peak of 18.8%.
Africa has not crossed the 20% mark at any point in the three decades covered.

South Africa accounted for nearly $1 in every $6 Africa earned from merchandise exports in 2025

Africa’s merchandise exports reached $689.2 billion in 2025.
Exports grew by 9.7%, the fastest rate outside Asia.
Africa accounted for just 2.6% of global merchandise exports.
South Africa led with $116.4 billion, followed by Nigeria and Egypt.
The top 15 economies generated 79.3% of Africa’s exports.