That dollar amount reflects a 13.1% advance from $53.6 billion five years earlier during 2019.
Year over year, the total value of Nigerian exports slipped by -4.2% compared to $63.3 billion for 2022.
Based on our calculated exchange rate for 2023, the Nigerian naira depreciated by -397.2% against the US dollar since 2019 and declined by -258.2% from 2022 to 2023. Nigeria’s weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Nigeria’s biggest export is crude oil, a commodity that represents over three-quarters (78.7%) of its total exported goods by value. That percentage belies the relatively concentrated nature of the Nigerian portfolio of export products.
Nigeria places among world-leading export nations that sell oil seeds, as well as being a major competitor delivering crude oil and cocoa beans to international markets.
Where Nigeria Ships the Majority of Its Exports
The latest available country-specific data shows that 74.9% of products exported from Nigeria was bought by importers in: Netherlands (12.6% of the Nigerian total), Spain (9.4%), India (8.4%), United States of America (7.5%), Indonesia (6.54%), France (6.54%), Canada (5.9%), Ivory Coast (4%), United Kingdom (3.92%), Italy (3.88%), South Africa (3.6%) and Portugal (2.6%).
From a continental perspective, 45.5% of Nigeria’s exports by value was delivered to European countries while 26.7% was sold to importers in Asia. Nigeria shipped another 13.5% worth of goods to buyers in North America.
Smaller percentages went to Africa (10.4%), Latin America (3.7%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean and Oceania’s Australia only (0.2%).
Given Nigeria’s population of 222.2 million people, the total $60.7 billion in 2023 Nigerian exports translates to roughly $275 for every person in the West African nation. That dollar metric lags the average $300 per capita for 2022.
Nigeria’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Nigerian global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Nigeria.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$55.6 billion (91.6% of total exports)
- Fertilizers: $994.7 million (1.6%)
- Oil seeds: $797.5 million (1.3%)
- Cocoa: $759 million (1.3%)
- Fruits, nuts: $328.2 million (0.5%)
- Aluminum: $280.5 million (0.5%)
- Ships, boats: $184.7 million (0.3%)
- Copper: $178.6 million (0.3%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $158.7 million (0.3%)
- Machinery including computers: $147.6 million (0.2%)
Nigeria’s top 10 exports are highly concentrated accounting for 97.9% of the overall value of the African country’s global shipments.
Machinery including computers was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 1,582% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was oil seeds via a 100.3% increase.
Nigeria’s shipments of ores, slag and ash posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 48.2%.
The leading decliner among Nigeria’s top 10 export categories was capital-intensive ships and boats, thanks to a -76.1% year-over-year drop.
Note that the results listed above are at the categorized two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
At the more granular four-digit HTS code level, Nigeria’s most valuable exported product is crude oil (80.6% of the Nigerian total). In second place are petroleum gases (10.5%) trailed by nitrogenous fertilizers (1.6%), coco beans (1%), oil seeds (0.7%), cashew nuts and coconuts (0.5%), unwrought aluminum (0.4%), soya beans (also 0.4%), refined copper plus unwrought alloys (0.3%), then electrical energy (0.2%).
Products Generating Greatest Trade Surpluses for Nigeria
Nigeria incurred an overall US$75.5 million trade surplus for 2023, shrinking by -97.4% from $2.85 billion in black ink compared to 2022.
The following types of Nigerian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports reflect the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$35.3 billion (Up by 5.3% since 2022)
- Oil seeds: $787.2 million (Up by 128.8%)
- Fertilizers: $747.9 million (Down by -52%)
- Cocoa: $721.4 million (Up by 10.9%)
- Zinc: $184.6 million (Up by 88.8%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $154.6 million (Up by 47.2%)
- Coated/laminated textile fabric: $145.6 million (Up by 297%)
- Gems, precious metals: $124.3 million (Down by -15.9%)
- Copper: $118.6 million (Up by 14.8%)
- Lead: $97.8 million (Down by -8.3%)
Nigeria has highly positive net exports particularly in the international trade of crude oil and petroleum gases. In turn, these cashflows indicate Nigeria’s strong competitive advantages under the mineral fuels including oil category.
Products Causing Worst Trade Deficits for Nigeria
Below are exports from Nigeria that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Nigeria’s goods trail Nigerian importer spending on foreign products.
- Vehicles: -US$12.5 billion (Up by 289.6% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: -$5.5 billion (Down by -19.2%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$2.9 billion (Down by -16.8%)
- Cereals: -$2 billion (Down by -10.1%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$1.7 billion (Down by -26.6%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: -$1 billion (Up by 9.2%)
- Paper, paper items: -$849.9 million (Down by -2.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$786.1 million (Down by -19.7%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$703.5 million (Down by -33.2%)
- Organic chemicals: -$660.2 million (Down by -35.3%)
Nigeria has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the vehicles and machinery including computers product categories.
Nigerian Export Companies
Five Nigerian corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000 including three regional banks, an insurance conglomerate and a construction materials firm.
- Dangote Cement (construction materials)
- Equity Assurance (financial institution)
- FBN Holdings (regional bank)
- Guaranty Trust Bank (regional bank)
- Zenith Bank (regional bank)
Wikipedia also lists exporters from Nigeria. Selected examples are shown below.
- Julius Berger Nigeria (construction materials)
- Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (oil, gas)
- Oando (oil, gas)
- ROCAD Construction Limited (oil, gas)
- Shell Nigeria (oil, gas)
In macroeconomic terms, Nigeria’s total exported goods represent 4.4% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($1.364 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 4.4% for exports to overall GDP per PPP in 2023 compares to 4.9% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Nigeria’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Nigeria’s unemployment rate was 3.58% at December 2023, down from 3.83% in December 2022 according to YCharts.
See also Nigeria’s Top 10 Imports, Nigeria’s Top Trading Partners and Top African Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Nigeria. Accessed on June 28, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 28, 2024
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on June 28, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on June 28, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 28, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 28, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on June 28, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Nigeria. Accessed on June 28, 2024
Wikipedia, Nigeria. Accessed on June 28, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on June 28, 2024