Nigeria’s trade surplus rises 43% to N19.32trn in nine months

Nigeria’s trade balance rose by 43.8 per cent year-on-year to N19.32 trillion in the first nine months of 2025 (9M’25), up from N13.43 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2024, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

An analysis of the NBS Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics report by Financial Vanguard showed that export earnings continued to outpace imports during the period under review.

The report revealed that total exports increased by 15.3 per cent to N66.16 trillion in 9M’25, compared with N57.34 trillion in 9M’24.

Imports also grew, but at a slower pace, rising by 6.45 per cent year-on-year to N46.84 trillion from N44 trillion.

As a result, Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N122.99 trillion in the first nine months of 2025, representing a 21 per cent increase from N101.3 trillion recorded in the same period of 2024.

Quarterly analysis showed that the trade balance expanded by 44.2 per cent to N7.46 trillion in the second quarter of 2025 (Q2’25), up from N5.17 trillion in Q1’25.

However, the surplus declined by 10.36 per cent quarter-on-quarter to N6.69 trillion in Q3’25.

According to the NBS, Nigeria’s total merchandise trade in the third quarter of 2025 stood at N38.94 trillion, an increase of 8.71 per cent compared to N35.82 trillion in Q3’24, and a 2.36 per cent rise over the N38.04 trillion recorded in Q2’25.

Exports accounted for 58.59 per cent of total trade in Q3’25, with a value of N22.8 trillion.

This represented an 11.08 per cent increase over the N20.54 trillion recorded in the same quarter of 2024 and a marginal 0.28 per cent rise from Q2’25.

Crude oil remained Nigeria’s dominant export commodity in the third quarter, valued at N12.81 trillion and accounting for 56.14 per cent of total exports.

Non-crude oil exports stood at N10.01 trillion, representing 43.86 per cent of total exports, while non-oil products contributed N2.99 trillion, or 13.14 per cent.

On the import side, the Bureau said imports accounted for 41.41 per cent of total trade in Q3’25, with a value of N16.12 trillion.

This reflected a 5.51 per cent increase compared to N15.28 trillion in Q3’24 and a 5.47 per cent rise from N15.29 trillion recorded in Q2’25.