By Elizabeth Adegbesan
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the country’s current account surplus rose by 46 percent year-on-year to $4.98 billion in the first quarter of 2026 (Q1’26).
The apex bank disclosed this in its Balance of Payments (BoP) report for the period, noting that the surplus also increased by 255.7 percent quarter-on-quarter from $1.4 billion in Q4’25.
According to the report, provisional balance of payments statistics showed that the $4.98 billion surplus was higher than the $1.40 billion recorded in Q4 2025 and $3.41 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
The CBN attributed the improvement to higher export earnings and reduced import expenditure, particularly in the oil sector.
It stated that crude oil export earnings rose from $6.77 billion to $8.11 billion, representing a 19.79 percent increase, while gas export earnings increased from $2.24 billion to $2.53 billion, a 12.95 percent rise.
Export earnings from refined petroleum products also increased from $1.97 billion to $2.37 billion, a 20.3 percent growth.
On the import side, refined petroleum product imports declined sharply from $2.48 billion to $0.31 billion, an 87.5 percent drop.
The bank also noted a decline in net out-payments in the primary income account from $3.27 billion to $2.83 billion, representing a 13.46 percent decrease.
The CBN said the goods account, a major component of the current account, recorded a surplus of $5.95 billion in Q1’26, compared to $1.77 billion in Q4’25 and $3.35 billion in Q1’25.
However, the financial account remained in a net borrowing position, recording $2.51 billion in Q1’26, higher than $1.96 billion in the previous quarter.
