By Elizabeth Adegbesan
Nigeria’s trade balance rose by 43.8 percent year-on-year (YoY) to N19.32 billion in the first nine months of the year (9M’25) from $13.43 billion in 9m’25.
Financial Vanguard analysis of data from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, report titled, ‘Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics’ showed that the value of exports outweighed imports during the period.
The report showed that exports stood at N66.16 trillion in 9M’25 rising by 15.3 percent from N57.34 trillion in 9M’24.
Total imports grew by 6.45 percent YoY to N46.84 trillion in 9M’25 from N44 trillion in 9M’25.
This resulted in a total merchandise trade of N122.99 trillion in 9m’25, a 21 percent YoY increase from N101.3 trillion recorded in 9m’24.
Trend analysis for the 9M’25 period showed that the trade balance grew by 44.2 per cent to N7.46 billion in the second quarter of 2025 (Q2’25) from N5.17 billion in Q1’25.
However, NBS latest report showed that trade balance declined by 10.36 percent QoQ to N6.69 billion in Q3’25.
The report said: “The merchandise trade balance for Q3’25 remained positive at N6.69 trillion, indicating a decrease of 10.36 percent compared to the value recorded in the preceding quarter.
“Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N38.94 trillion in Q3, 2025. This represents an increase of 8.71 percent over the value of N35.82 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2024 and an increase by 2.36 per cent compared to the value recorded in the preceding quarter (N38.037 trillion).
“In the quarter under review, exports accounted for 58.59 per cent of total trade with a value of N22.8 trillion, showing an increase of 11.08 percent over the value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2024 (N20.54 trillion) and by 0.28 percent compared to the value recorded in Q2, 2025 (N22.75 trillion).
” Analysis shows that crude oil remained Nigeria’s major exported commodity in the third quarter of 2025 with a value of N12.81 trillion representing 56.14 per cent of total exports.
“A further breakdown reveals that the value of non-crude oil exports stood at N10.01 trillion accounting for 43.86 percent of total exports; of which non-oil products contributed N2.99 trillion or 13.14 percent of total exports.”
On imports, the Bureau noted: “On the other hand, imports accounted for 41.41 percent of total trade in the third quarter of 2025, with a value of N16.12 trillion representing a 5.51 percent increase compared to N15.28 trillion recorded in Q3’24, and 5.47 percent increase from N15.29 trillion recorded in Q2’25.”
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