Nigeria's trade balance has experienced a remarkable surge, increasing by an impressive 43.8 percent year-on-year to reach a staggering N19.32 billion during the first nine months of this year (9M’25), up from $13.43 billion in the same period last year.
An analysis conducted by Financial Vanguard, utilizing data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report titled ‘Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics,’ reveals that exports significantly outpaced imports within this timeframe.
According to the report, total exports for 9M’25 amounted to N66.16 trillion, reflecting a 15.3 percent increase compared to N57.34 trillion recorded in 9M’24. Meanwhile, imports rose by 6.45 percent year-on-year, reaching N46.84 trillion in 9M’25, compared to N44 trillion in the prior year.
This positive shift culminated in a total merchandise trade value of N122.99 trillion for 9M’25, marking a robust 21 percent increase from the N101.3 trillion reported in 9M’24.
A closer look at the trends over the nine-month period indicates that the trade balance grew by 44.2 percent, rising to N7.46 billion in the second quarter of 2025 (Q2’25) from N5.17 billion in the first quarter (Q1’25). However, the latest report from NBS indicates a slight decline in trade balance by 10.36 percent quarter-on-quarter, bringing it to N6.69 billion in the third quarter of 2025 (Q3’25).
The report elaborates: "The merchandise trade balance for Q3’25 remained positive at N6.69 trillion, illustrating a decrease of 10.36 percent compared to the previous quarter."
Furthermore, Nigeria's overall merchandise trade for Q3’25 reached N38.94 trillion, which is an 8.71 percent increase over the N35.82 trillion recorded in the same quarter of 2024, and a 2.36 percent increase from the preceding quarter's value of N38.037 trillion.
In this quarter, exports constituted a substantial 58.59 percent of the total trade, amounting to N22.8 trillion. This shows an 11.08 percent growth compared to the N20.54 trillion recorded in the same quarter of 2024 and a slight increase of 0.28 percent when juxtaposed with the N22.75 trillion from Q2, 2025.
Diving deeper into the details, crude oil continues to dominate Nigeria's export landscape in Q3’25, valued at N12.81 trillion and representing 56.14 percent of total exports.
Moreover, non-crude oil exports were valued at N10.01 trillion, making up 43.86 percent of total exports; within this category, non-oil products contributed N2.99 trillion, or 13.14 percent of total exports.
On the import side, the Bureau highlighted that imports accounted for 41.41 percent of total trade in Q3’25, valued at N16.12 trillion. This reflects a 5.51 percent rise compared to the N15.28 trillion recorded in Q3’24, and a 5.47 percent increase from N15.29 trillion in Q2’25.
