Nigeria’s spending on the importation of petrol, plunged by over 96 per cent in the first quarter of 2026, to N87.401 billion.
Latest foreign trade statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for January to March 2026 showed a decline of N2.184 trillion, or 96.15 per cent, compared to the N2.271 trillion spent on petrol imports during the corresponding period of 2025.
An analysis of the NBS data showed that petrol did not feature among the top 19 traded products with the rest of the world, Africa, or West Africa during the review period.
Crude petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, gas oil, durum wheat, machines for reception, conversion and transmission of data, used vehicles, motorcycles, agricultural seeders, medicaments, aircraft parts, butanes, petroleum bitumen, sugar cane, herbicides and fuel additives topped the chart instead.
“Analysis of Nigeria’s import trade reveals that China remained the leading source of imports in the first quarter of 2026, followed by the United States of America, India, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates. The most imported commodities during the quarter were petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals (crude), gas oil, durum wheat, machines for the reception, conversion, and transmission of voice, images, or data, and used vehicles with diesel or semi-diesel engines.
“The value of other oil products imported in Q1 2026 stood at N748.10bn, reflecting an 85.05 per cent decrease from N5,005.22bn in Q1 2025 and an 81.38 per cent decrease from N4,018.31bn recorded in Q4 2025.”