NBS: Nigeria’s Total Merchandise Trade Rises by 19.13% in Q2 202
According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics report for Q2 2026, Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at ₦41.44 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, representing an increase of 5.61% from the ₦39.24 trillion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025 and a rise of 19.13% from ₦34.79 trillion in Q1 2026.
This growth was driven by a surge in export earnings alongside continued compression in imports.
During Q2 2026, total exports were valued at ₦27.02 trillion, accounting for 65.20% of total merchandise trade, while imports amounted to ₦14.42 trillion (34.80% of total trade), declining by 12.55% year-on-year from ₦16.49 trillion in Q2 2025.
A notable development is that non-crude oil exports, valued at ₦14.11 trillion, exceeded crude oil exports of ₦12.91 trillion for the first time, with non-oil products contributing ₦3.72 trillion, or 13.80%, of total exports.
While the improvement in the trade surplus and the rise in non-crude oil exports are encouraging, non-oil products still account for only 13.80% of total exports, and import dependence in manufactured goods remains deeply rooted.
Policy efforts should therefore focus on strengthening non-oil export performance through improved value addition and domestic production capacity, while deepening backward integration in manufacturing and expanding incentives for agro-processing and solid minerals to build a more resilient external sector.
