Nigeria’s Q2 2026 trade rose to N41 billion; China remains biggest import partner: NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics says Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N41,444.89 billion in the second quarter of 2026.

News Agency of Nigeria • September 8, 2026

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The National Bureau of Statistics says Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N41,444.89 billion in the second quarter of 2026. This is according to the NBS Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Report for Q2 2026 released on Monday.

This shows a 5.61 per cent increase from the N37,244.42 billion recorded in Q2 2025 and a 19.13 per cent increase from N34,788.59 billion recorded in Q1 2026.

The report said total exports stood at N27.02 billion, accounting for 65.20 per cent of total trade.
It said total exports rose by 18.77 per cent from N22.75 billion in Q1 2025. Total exports in Q2 2026 also rose by 27.64 per cent compared with Q1 2026, which was recorded at N21.16 billion.

The report said in Q2 2026, Nigeria’s export trade continued to be dominated by crude oil exports valued at N12.91 billion, which represented 47.79 per cent of total exports.

The NBS said the value of non-crude oil exports stood at N14.10 billion, representing 52.21 per cent of total exports in Q2 2026. Non-oil products contributed N3,729.67 billion or 13.80 per cent of total exports.

The report said the top trading export partners in Q2 2026 were India, Spain, the Netherlands, the United States of America, and Togo. The most exported commodities included crude oil, kerosene, type jet fuel, natural gas, urea, and other petroleum gases in a gaseous state.

The report, however, said total imports stood at N14.42 billion, accounting for 34.80 per cent of total trade in Q2 2026. Total imports fell by 12.55 per cent from N16.49 billion in the second quarter of 2025. Total imports increased by 5.91 per cent when compared to the value recorded in Q1 2026 at N13.61 billion.

According to the report, China remains Nigeria’s highest trading partner on the import side in Q2 2026, followed by the USA, India, the Netherlands, and Germany.

The most traded commodities imported in Q2 2026 were motor spirit ordinary, petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals (crude), durum wheat, used vehicles with diesel or semi-diesel engines and motorcycles.

The NBS said the merchandise trade balance for Q2 2026 remained positive at N12.59 billion, up 101.32 per cent from Q2 2025.

(NAN)

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