Nigeria’s trade surplus rises by 220%

Friday, May 22, 2026 - Nigeria recorded a $480 million trade surplus in January 2026, driven by a 4.46 percent increase in export receipts to a record $4.68 billion, largely fueled by petroleum products. This represents a 220 percent month-on-month (MoM) increase in trade surplus when compared to $150 million recorded in December 2025.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, disclosed this in its January Monthly Economic Report, noting that while export earnings rose import bills also increased by 3.0 percent to $4.77 billion, with oil and gas products accounting for 83.12 percent of total export receipts.

CBN said: “Transactions in the goods account resulted in a higher trade surplus, owing to an increase in export receipts. Provisional data indicated that the trade surplus rose to $480 million, from $150 million in the preceding month. The higher surplus was driven by the 4.46 per cent increase in export to $4.68 billion, following the increase in the export of petroleum products.

Import bills also increased by 3.0 per cent to $4.77 billion, on account of due to a decline in the import of oil products.“Analysis of export by composition showed that crude oil, gas, and refined petroleum products accounted for 83.12 per cent of total receipts, while non-oil exports earnings constituted the balance.

In terms of imports, non-oil product accounted for 86.43 per cent, while oil imports constituted the balance. Aggregate receipts from oil exports rose by 7.46 per cent to $3.89 billion from $3.62 billion, due largely to the increase in crude oil export receipts.

A further disaggregation showed that crude oil export receipts increased to $2.47 billion from $2.72 billion in the preceding month, occasioned by a rise in the average price of crude oil due to supply disruptions.“Similarly, earnings from gas exports rose to $750 million from $720 billion.

Non-oil export earnings moderated in the review period. At US$800 million, non-oil export earnings fell by 5.88 per cent relative to the level in the preceding month. The development followed lower earnings from the export of agricultural products, particularly cocoa beans, as improved weather conditions boosted West African harvest prospects, leading to a decline in prices.”