India, China, the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates dominate as Nigeria’s trading partners in the first quarter of 2025, accounting for a significant share of transaction’s total external trade volume.
This is according to the latest Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which showed that India was Nigeria’s top export destination while China maintained its position as the country’s largest import partner.
The report indicated that total trade in goods for Q1 2025 stood at ₦36.02 trillion, representing a 6.19 percent increase compared to ₦33.93 trillion recorded in the same period of 2024. It also shows a marginal decline of 1.58 percent when compared with ₦36.60 trillion recorded in the last quarter of 2024.
Exports accounted for 57.18 percent of the total trade, amounting to ₦20.60 trillion, while imports were valued at ₦15.43 trillion or 42.82 percent of total trade.
A breakdown of the trade data showed that Nigeria recorded a trade surplus of ₦5.17 trillion in the first quarter, representing a 51.07 percent increase over the trade surplus of ₦3.42 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The strong performance in exports was largely driven by crude oil, which contributed ₦12.96 trillion or 62.89 percent of the total export value. Non-crude oil exports stood at ₦7.64 trillion, while non-oil products accounted for ₦3.17 trillion, representing 15.38 percent of total exports.
India led Nigeria’s export destinations with goods worth ₦2.84 trillion or 13.80 percent of total exports. This was followed by the Netherlands with ₦2.26 trillion (10.96%), the United States with ₦1.54 trillion (7.49%), France with ₦1.44 trillion (7.01%), and Spain with ₦1.44 trillion (6.99%).
Altogether, these five countries accounted for 46.25 percent of Nigeria’s total export value in the quarter under review. The most exported commodities were crude oil, liquefied natural gas, other petroleum gases in a gaseous state, urea, and standard quality cocoa beans.
On the import side, Nigeria sourced most of its goods from China, which exported ₦4.66 trillion worth of products to Nigeria, representing 30.19 percent of total imports. China was followed by India with ₦1.72 trillion (11.13%), the United States with ₦1.42 trillion (9.22%), the Netherlands with ₦809.83 billion (5.25%), and the United Arab Emirates with ₦617.18 billion (4.00%). The major imports included gas oil, motor spirit (ordinary), crude petroleum oils, cane sugar for refinery, and durum wheat.
Regionally, most of Nigeria’s exports went to Europe, which received goods worth ₦8.64 trillion (41.96%), followed by Asia with ₦6.75 trillion (32.79%), and America with ₦3.33 trillion (16.16%). Exports to African countries totaled ₦1.85 trillion or 9.0 percent of total exports, with ECOWAS member states accounting for ₦1.07 trillion of that figure. Within Africa, South Africa received the highest volume of Nigerian exports at ₦708.69 billion, followed by Ivory Coast with ₦428.56 billion, Senegal with ₦346.26 billion, Togo with ₦134.80 billion, and Ghana with ₦122.07 billion. These countries collectively represented 93.91 percent of Nigeria’s total exports to Africa.
In terms of imports from Africa, Nigeria brought in ₦1.00 trillion worth of goods, with Angola, Togo, and South Africa being the top three African import partners. Imports from ECOWAS countries stood at ₦200.36 billion, with Togo, Ghana, and Ivory Coast leading the pack.
A sectoral analysis of trade data showed that agricultural exports rose significantly to ₦1.70 trillion in Q1 2025, an increase of 64.65 percent year-on-year.
Key agricultural exports included standard and superior quality cocoa beans, cashew nuts, and sesame seeds. The bulk of these products were shipped to Europe and Asia, with the Netherlands, Belgium, India, and Vietnam being major destinations. Meanwhile, agricultural imports totaled ₦1.04 trillion, dominated by imports of wheat from Russia and Argentina, soya beans from the United States and Brazil, and frozen fish from Chile.
The value of manufactured goods traded in Q1 2025 was ₦7.81 trillion, out of which exports stood at ₦294.43 billion, down 40.43 percent from Q4 2024. Manufactured exports were mainly unwrought aluminum alloys, dredgers, and cathodes, with Japan, China, Spain, and South Korea being key markets. Manufactured imports, however, remained high, led by motorcycles from India, communication machines from China and the US, and chemicals from Saudi Arabia and India.
Raw material exports stood at ₦1.04 trillion, representing a year-on-year increase of 196.12 percent. Urea, mainly shipped to Brazil, was the leading raw material export. Imports of raw materials, valued at ₦1.81 trillion, were led by cane sugar from Brazil and industrial additives from the United States.
Solid mineral exports dropped by 7.17 percent to ₦58.87 billion, with major destinations being Cameroon and Togo. Imports in this category were led by plasters from Egypt and Turkey.
Most of Nigeria’s exports and imports were conducted via maritime transport, which accounted for 98.85 percent and 94.03 percent respectively. Apapa port handled majority of trade transactions, processing ₦17.74 trillion in exports and ₦8.05 trillion in imports, followed by Tin Can Island and Lekki Deep Sea Port.
