Nigeria’s merchandise trade surplus more than doubled to N12.60 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, driven by stronger exports and a year-on-year decline in imports, the National Bureau of Statistics reported.
In its Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics released on Monday, the bureau said total merchandise trade rose to N41.44 trillion in the second quarter, a 5.61 per cent increase from N39.24 trillion in the corresponding period of 2025 and 19.13 per cent higher than the N34.79 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2026.
Export Growth Outpaces Imports
Exports accounted for 65.20 per cent of total trade at N27.02 trillion, rising 18.77 per cent from N22.75 trillion a year earlier and 27.64 per cent from N21.17 trillion in the preceding quarter.
Imports stood at N14.42 trillion, or 34.80 per cent of total trade. The figure was 12.55 per cent lower than the N16.49 trillion recorded in the second quarter of 2025 but 5.91 per cent higher than the N13.62 trillion posted in the first quarter of 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics said: “The merchandise trade balance remained positive at N12.6tn in Q2 2026, representing a 101.32 per cent increase compared with the value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025.”
Crude and Petroleum Products Dominate
Crude oil remained Nigeria’s largest export commodity, generating N12.91 trillion and accounting for 47.79 per cent of total exports. Crude shipments rose 7.93 per cent from N11.97 trillion in the second quarter of 2025 and 15.28 per cent from N11.20 trillion in the previous quarter.
Non-crude oil exports were valued at N14.11 trillion, or 52.21 per cent of total exports. Non-oil products, however, contributed only N3.73 trillion, or 13.80 per cent of exports, underlining the continued dominance of petroleum-related earnings.
Other petroleum product exports climbed 34.08 per cent year-on-year to N10.38 trillion and jumped 53.05 per cent from N6.78 trillion in the first quarter.
Main Destinations and Sources
India was Nigeria’s biggest export market, receiving goods worth N3.29 trillion, or 12.17 per cent of total exports. Spain followed with N1.98 trillion, the Netherlands with N1.90 trillion, the United States with N1.73 trillion and Togo with N1.50 trillion. Together the five markets accounted for 38.51 per cent of exports.
Asia was the largest regional destination at N8.72 trillion, followed by Europe at N8.07 trillion and Africa at N6.65 trillion.
On the import side, China strengthened its position as Nigeria’s dominant supplier, accounting for N5.92 trillion, or 41.02 per cent of total imports. The United States followed with N1.01 trillion, while India supplied goods valued at N924.46 billion.
Manufactured and Agricultural Deficits
Manufactured imports rose 20.65 per cent year-on-year to N9.51 trillion from N7.88 trillion and increased 12.10 per cent from N8.48 trillion in the first quarter. Manufactured exports, by contrast, fell 51.10 per cent year-on-year to N393.03 billion from N803.81 billion, although they rose 29.87 per cent from the preceding quarter. The result was a manufactured goods trade deficit of about N9.12 trillion.
Agricultural trade also recorded a deficit. Exports declined 36.09 per cent to N802.99 billion from N1.26 trillion a year earlier and fell 31.51 per cent from the first quarter, while imports increased to N1.20 trillion — up 1.63 per cent year-on-year and 45.43 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Cashew nuts in shell led agricultural exports at N268.62 billion, followed by standard-quality cocoa beans at N154.31 billion and sesame seeds at N96.03 billion.
Raw material exports rose sharply by 181.24 per cent year-on-year to N2.31 trillion, against imports of N1.79 trillion. Solid mineral exports increased 90.03 per cent to N146.91 billion.
Surplus with Africa
Nigeria maintained a substantial surplus with African countries, exporting N6.65 trillion worth of goods to the continent against imports of N1.10 trillion. Togo was the largest African export destination at N1.50 trillion, followed by South Africa at N1.34 trillion and Côte d’Ivoire at N1.22 trillion.
