Nigeria's Car Imports Surge to ₦1.18 Trillion in 2026

In the first half of 2026, Nigeria experienced a significant increase in passenger motor car imports, which rose by 145.6% year-on-year to ₦1.18 trillion. This surge reflects strong demand for vehicles despite the challenges posed by rising living costs and importation difficulties.

The data, derived from Nairametrics’ analysis of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Foreign Trade Statistics reports, shows that the value of passenger motor car imports increased from ₦479.26 billion in the first half of 2025. Quarterly figures indicate that imports rose from ₦552.34 billion in Q1 to ₦624.75 billion in Q2 of 2026, compared to ₦224.58 billion and ₦254.67 billion in the same quarters of 2025.

However, it is important to note that the NBS data measures the value of imported vehicles rather than the number of cars imported. Consequently, the increase does not necessarily imply a corresponding rise in the number of vehicles.

Overall, Nigeria's total transport equipment and parts imports reached ₦3.73 trillion in H1 2026, marking a 44.2% increase from ₦2.59 trillion in H1 2025.