The National Bureau of Statistics says Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N34,788.59 billion in the first quarter of 2026. This is according to the NBS Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Report for Q1 2026, released in Abuja on Monday.

This shows a decrease compared to the value of N37,242,903.61 billion recorded in Q1 2025  and N36,214,343.98 billion recorded in Q4 2025.

The report said total exports stood at N21,169.27 billion, accounting for 60.85  per cent of total trade.

The report said total exports increased by 2.77 per cent compared with the Q1 2025 figure, to N20,598.48 billion. Total exports in Q1 2026 increased by 11.63 per cent compared with Q4 of 2025, which was recorded at N18,963.41 billion.

It said that in Q1 2026, Nigeria’s export trade continued to be dominated by crude oil exports, valued at N11,202.35 billion, representing 52.92 per cent of total exports.

The NBS said the value of non-crude oil exports stood at N9,966.92 billion, which represented 47.08 per cent of total exports in Q1 2026. Non-oil products contributed N3,186.74 billion or 15.05 per cent of total exports.

The report said the top trading export partners in Q1 2026 were India, France, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United States of America.

It said the most exported commodities included crude oil, natural gas, urea (whether or not in aqueous solution), other petroleum gases in gaseous form, and kerosene-type jet fuel.

The report, however, said total imports stood at N13,619.33 billion, accounting for 39.15 per cent of total trade in Q1 2026.

It said total imports decreased by 18.17 per cent from the first-quarter 2025 value of N16,644.42 billion. Total imports decreased by 21.05 per cent compared with the value recorded in Q4 2025, at N17,250.93 billion.

The report said China remained Nigeria’s largest trading partner on the import side in Q1 2025, followed by India, the U.S., the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates.

It said the most traded commodities imported in Q1 2026 were machinery and transport equipment (N5,011.21 billion), mineral fuels (N2,648.28 billion), and chemicals and related products (N2,020.71 billion).

The NBS said the merchandise trade balance for Q1 2026 remained positive at N7,549.94 billion, an increase of 340.88 per cent from N1,712,475.97 billion in Q4 2024.

The bureau attributed the increase to a decline in petroleum products imports and an increase in crude oil exports. 

(NAN)