Nigeria’s trade surplus jumps 107% to $2.2bn- CBN

Onome Amuge

Nigeria recorded an increase in its trade surplus in January 2025, reaching $2.2 billion, representing a 107.5 per cent month-on-month (MoM) increase from the $1.06 billion surplus recorded in December 2024, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monthly Economic Report for January 2025.

The CBN attributed the rise in the trade surplus to increased values in both exports and imports. “Trade activities in the review period resulted in a higher trade surplus,” the report stated. 

Moreso, provisional data indicated that the trade surplus rose to $2.2 billion, from $1.06 billion in December 2024.

Export receipts saw a growth of 29.09 per cent to $5.37 billion in January, up from $4.16 billion in the preceding month. This increase reflected higher earnings from both oil and non-oil product exports.

Earnings from crude oil and gas exports played a significant role in the country’s trade, increasing to $4.80 billion in January from $3.62 billion in December 2024. The CBN stated that this growth was driven by a combination of rising crude oil prices, which averaged $80.76 per barrel in January compared to $74.72 per barrel in December, and an increase in domestic crude oil production to 1.54 million barrels per day (mbpd) from 1.48 mbpd. 

Disaggregated data showed that crude oil export receipts rose to $3.86 billion, up from $2.68 billion, while gas export earnings also saw a marginal increase to $0.95 billion from $0.94 billion.

Non-oil export earnings also contributed to the improved trade balance, rising to $0.56 billion in January from $0.54 billion in the previous month. The CBN noted that this increase was primarily due to higher receipts from agricultural commodities, attributing the positive outturn to ongoing government initiatives such as “Export 35 redefined” and “Go Global, Go for Certification.”

On the import side, Nigeria’s merchandise import bills saw an increase of 2.26 per cent to $3.17 billion in January, compared to $3.10 billion in December 2024. This growth was primarily driven by a rise in non-oil product imports, particularly raw materials for the industrial sector, which increased to $2.37 billion from $2.26 billion. The CBN explained that this increase was due to the industrial sector restocking inventory following the festive sales period.

Conversely, the import of petroleum products decreased by 3.61 per cent to $0.8 billion in January, down from $0.83 billion in the preceding month.