By Progress Godfrey
Nigeria recorded a 91 per cent, year-on-year, YoY increase in trade surplus to N7.55 trillion in the first quarter of 2026, Q1’26 from N3.95 trillion in the same period of 2025, Q1’25, driven by a sharp decline in imports and a modest rise in exports.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this yesterday in the Foreign Trade in Goods for Q1’26.
The report showed that total trade fell by 6.48 per cent, YoY to N34.79 trillion in Q1’26 from N37.24 trillion in Q1’25.
The sharp increase in trade surplus and decline in total trade in Q1’26 was driven by an 18.6 per cent, YoY decline in imports and a 2.77 per cent, YoY increase in exports.
According to the NBS, the value of total imports stood at N13.62 trillion in the quarter of 2026, representing a 18.17% decrease from the value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025 (N16.64 trillion) and a 21.05% decrease compared to the value recorded in Q4 2025 (N17.25 trillion).
On the other hand, total exports rose to N21.17 trillion in Q1’26, up 2.77 per cent from N20.60 trillion in Q1’25 and 11.63 per cent higher than N18.96 trillion in Q4’25.
Agricultural imports were valued at N827.72 billion, down 20.09 per cent YoY and 42.39 per cent QoQ, while raw material imports fell to N1.58 trillion, a 12.63 per cent decline from Q1’25 and 32.72 per cent lower than Q4’25.
Agricultural exports fell to N1.17 trillion, down 31.20 per cent year-on-year and 11.39 per cent quarter-on-quarter, while raw material exports increased to N1.53 trillion, reflecting strong growth in industrial inputs.
The NBS stated: “In Q1 2026, Nigeria’s top five trading export partners were India, France, The Netherlands, Spain, and The United States of America. The most exported commodities were crude oil, natural gas, Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution, other petroleum gases in a gaseous state, and kerosene-type jet fuel.
“In the same period, the value of raw material exports stood at N1,533.75billion, representing a rise of 46.83% from N1,044.59billion in Q1 2025 and a 28.62% increase from N1,192.49 billion in Q4 2025,” the statistics agency added.
Crude oil exports were valued at N11.20 trillion, though this represented a decline of 13.53 per cent YoY despite a 15.45 per cent rebound from Q4’25. Other oil product exports rose sharply to N6,78 trillion, supported by stronger global demand.
