Nigeria's Raw Material Trade Surplus Reaches N466.79 Billion

In the first half of 2026, Nigeria recorded a N466.79 billion trade surplus in raw materials, a notable improvement from the N1.67 trillion deficit in the same period of 2025. This shift was primarily due to raw material exports increasing by 105.9% year-on-year to N3.84 trillion, while imports decreased by 4.5% to N3.37 trillion.

The most significant change occurred in Q2 2026, where exports surged to N2.31 trillion, making up about 60% of total exports for H1 2026 and reflecting a 181% increase from N819.72 billion in Q2 2025. This surplus marks Nigeria's first half-year trade surplus in raw materials since at least 2016, breaking a trend of annual deficits from 2016 to 2025.

The improvement in the trade balance was approximately N2.13 trillion from H1 2025 to H1 2026. The H1 2026 exports represented 93.7% of the total export value for 2025, while imports accounted for 42.7% of the previous year's import value.