Nigeria Import Data: $65.05B in 2023, Up 7.21%

Nigeria Imports the Fuel Its Own Crude Exports Bypass

Nigeria imported $65.05 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 7.21% from $60.67 billion in 2022. Mineral fuels led every category at 33.44% of the total, worth $21.75 billion, more than any other classification. Nigeria imported nearly 400,000 barrels a day of petroleum products in 2023, a figure that dropped to under 130,000 barrels a day within a few years, a decline directly attributed to the Dangote Refinery's January 2024 launch. This is the flip side of the story covered in the companion export data for this country, where Nigeria's crude oil exports made up 91.61% of everything the country sold abroad in 2023, almost none of it refined domestically before leaving. Raw crude flows out through one set of ports and pipelines while refined gasoline and diesel flow back in through another. That arrangement has cost Nigeria billions of dollars a year in value that a country with adequate domestic refining capacity would otherwise have captured for itself.

Singapore supplied 14.34% of imports, worth $9.33 billion, Nigeria's second-largest source overall and one of the world's most significant refined-petroleum trading hubs. Malta functions as a major Mediterranean marine fuel bunkering location, with six designated bunkering areas and more than 17 bunker barges serving vessels transiting the region. Malta ranked seventh among Nigeria's import partners at 3.46% ($2.25 billion), a position that likely reflects this same kind of fuel-trading and shipping infrastructure rather than direct manufactured-goods trade. The Netherlands added 5.02% ($3.27 billion), tied to the same Rotterdam refining hub covered in the companion export data for this country. Between them, Singapore, Malta and the Netherlands sketch out a pattern common to countries that produce raw commodities but lack the refining capacity to finish them at home. The finished product often arrives from a completely different set of countries than the ones buying the raw material in the first place.

Used Cars and Wheat Fill Out a List Shaped by What Nigeria Doesn't Make

Vehicles supplied 20.63% of imports, worth $13.42 billion, Nigeria's second-largest category. Nigeria is Africa's largest used-car market, with second-hand "Tokunbo" vehicles accounting for more than 95% of the country's roughly 700,000 annual automobile transactions. Nigeria still lacks domestic vehicle manufacturing at any meaningful scale. Machinery added a further 9.39% ($6.11 billion), and electrical machinery contributed 4.78% ($3.11 billion), both reflecting continued investment in industrial capacity and consumer electronics for a rapidly growing population.

Cereals supplied 3.37% of imports ($2.19 billion). Nigeria depends on imports for up to 98% of its wheat demand, since domestic production of roughly 1.12 million tonnes covers only a fraction of consumption estimated at over 6.8 million tonnes, driven by population growth and desertification limiting local cultivation. Plastics added 2.80% ($1.82 billion), and commodities not specified according to kind supplied 2.64% ($1.72 billion), a catch-all category that trade statisticians use when shipments cannot be cleanly sorted into any single classification. Sugar contributed 1.72% ($1.12 billion), reflecting demand that outpaces what Nigeria's own sugar refining sector can supply. Paper and paperboard added 1.41% ($920 million), and iron and steel articles closed out the top ten at 1.32% ($857 million), both tied to construction activity across a country still building out much of its urban infrastructure.

China, Fuel-Trading Hubs and a Recent Russian Shift Round Out the Partner List

China supplied 18.38% of Nigeria's imports in 2023, worth $11.95 billion, more than any other country, spanning everything from consumer electronics to industrial machinery. Belgium added 9.41% ($6.12 billion), and India contributed 8.04% ($5.23 billion). The USA supplied 6.21% ($4.04 billion), and South Korea added 2.66% ($1.73 billion), likely tied to the same vehicle trade covered earlier in this article.

Saudi Arabia contributed 2.32% ($1.51 billion), reflecting a major crude-producing nation's own role in supplying refined products elsewhere in the market. Russia rounded out the top ten at 2.32% ($1.51 billion). Russia has redirected growing volumes of refined petroleum products toward Africa since EU sanctions took hold, with diesel flows to the continent soaring to 440,000 barrels a day as new buyers emerged across the region. Together, China, Singapore and Belgium made up 42.12% of Nigeria's total import value that year. Import totals climbed unevenly over the past five years, from $47.37 billion in 2019 to $55.46 billion in 2020, easing back to $52.07 billion in 2021, then climbing to $60.67 billion in 2022 and $65.05 billion in 2023.