2025 Oil slump drives Nigeria’s trade surplus to lowest in two years

Nigeria’s trade surplus fell to its lowest level in about two years in the final quarter of 2025 as a drop in crude oil exports weakened the country’s export earnings, according to new data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Figures from the bureau’s Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics report show that Nigeria recorded a trade surplus of N1.71 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2025. The figure represents a steep fall from the N5.86 trillion surplus recorded in the previous quarter, and marks the lowest quarterly surplus since the third quarter of 2023.

Total trade during the period stood at N36.21 trillion, a decline from the N39.77 trillion recorded in the third quarter of 2025, as export earnings weakened. Exports accounted for 52.36 percent of total trade, with a value of N18.96 trillion, while imports stood at N17.25 trillion, the statistics agency reported.

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The decline was largely driven by a sharp fall in crude oil exports, which remain the backbone of Nigeria’s external trade. Crude oil exports were valued at N9.70 trillion in the fourth quarter, declining 29.6 percent from N13.78 trillion in the same period of 2024.

Despite the slump, crude oil still accounted for 51.17 percent of Nigeria’s total exports.

The report further showed that non-crude oil exports stood at N9.26 trillion, accounting for 48.83 percent of total exports, while non-oil products contributed N3.15 trillion within that category.

Nigeria’s major export destinations during the quarter included the Netherlands, India, Spain, France and Canada, with crude oil, natural gas, jet fuel and urea among the most exported commodities.