Nigeria’s Top Trading Partners

December 21, 2018 by

Nigeria Soccer Conceptual (courtesy of Pixabay.com)

Nigerian soccer

Strategically located on Africa’s west-central coast, the Federal Republic of Nigeria shipped US$40.7 billion worth of products around the globe in 2017. That dollar figure reflects a -54.5% decline since 2013 but a 23.8% year-over-year increase from 2016 to 2017.

From a continental perspective, over two-thirds (37.4%) of Nigeria’s total exports by value in 2017 were delivered to European trading partners. Asian importers purchased 29.6% of Nigerian shipments while 16.5% worth of products arrived in North America. Smaller portions of Nigerian exports were bought by importers in other African nations (12.1%), Latin America (3.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean and Oceania (0.9%) principally Australia.

Nigeria’s Top 15 Trading Partners

Top 15

Below is a list showcasing 15 of Nigeria’s top trading partners, countries that imported the most Nigerian shipments by dollar value during 2017. Also shown is each import country’s percentage consumption of total Nigerian exports.

  1. India: US$7.3 billion (17.9% of Nigeria’s total exports)
  2. United States: $5.2 billion (12.7%)
  3. Spain: $4.1 billion (10%)
  4. Netherlands: $3.4 billion (8.4%)
  5. France: $3.1 billion (7.7%)
  6. South Africa: $1.8 billion (4.5%)
  7. Canada: $1.4 billion (3.4%)
  8. Indonesia: $1.3 billion (3.3%)
  9. United Kingdom: $1.1 billion (2.6%)
  10. Togo: $997.5 million (2.4%)
  11. Italy: $931.5 million (2.3%)
  12. Sweden: $860.5 million (2.1%)
  13. China: $672.7 million (1.7%)
  14. Côte d’Ivoire: $632.5 million (1.6%)
  15. Germany: $614.8 million (1.5%)

Over four-fifths (82.1%) of Nigerian exports in 2017 were delivered to the above 15 trading partners.

Leading the year-over-year gainers were Togo (up 497.5% since 2016), France (up 53.7%), Sweden (up 45.7%), Canada (up 39.3%) and the Netherlands (up 39.1%).

For the complete listing, see the section Searchable Datalist of Countries Importing Nigeria’s Exports near the bottom of this article.

Deficits

As defined by Investopedia, a country whose total value of all imported goods is higher than its value of all exports is said to have a negative trade balance or deficit.

It would be unrealistic for any exporting nation to expect across-the-board positive trade balances with all its importing partners. Similarly, that export country doesn’t necessarily post a negative trade balance with each individual partner with which it exchanges exports and imports.

In 2017, Nigeria incurred the highest trade deficits with the following countries:

  1. China: -US$4.7 billion (country-specific trade deficit in 2017)
  2. Belgium: -$3.6 billion
  3. Russia: -$619.7 million
  4. Germany: -$554.6 million
  5. Latvia: -$487.7 million
  6. South Korea: -$372.4 million
  7. Norway: -$326.9 million
  8. Ireland: -$283.8 million
  9. Saudi Arabia: -$257.7 million
  10. Brazil: -$177.9 million

Among Nigeria’s trading partners that generate the greatest negative trade balances, Nigerian deficits with Brazil (up 86.2%), South Korea (up 53%) and Russia (up 52.2%) grew at the fastest pace from 2016 to 2017.

These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Nigeria’s competitive disadvantages with the above countries, but also represent key opportunities for Nigeria to develop country-specific strategies to strengthen its overall position in international trade.

Surpluses

Overall, Nigeria posted a positive trade balance of $11.8 billion in 2017 reversing a -$2.3 billion deficit from one year earlier.

Based on Investopedia’s definition of net importer, a country whose total value of all imported goods is lower than its value of all exports is said to have a positive trade balance or surplus.

In 2017, Nigeria incurred the highest trade surpluses with the following countries:

  1. India: US$5.9 billion (country-specific trade surplus in 2017)
  2. Spain: $3.6 billion
  3. United States: $2.9 billion
  4. France: $2.1 billion
  5. South Africa: $1.5 billion
  6. Canada: $1.1 billion
  7. Togo: $983.7 million
  8. Indonesia: $973.2 million
  9. Sweden: $757.6 million
  10. Netherlands: $731.8 million

Among Nigeria’s trading partners that generate the greatest positive trade balances, Nigerian surpluses with Togo (up 661.7%), France (up 222.8%), the United States (up 149.4%) and Sweden (up 98.1%) grew at the fastest pace from 2016 to 2017.

These positive cashflow streams clearly indicate Nigeria’s competitive advantages with the above countries, but also represent key opportunities for Nigeria to develop country-specific strategies to optimize its overall position in international trade.

Companies

Nigeria’s Exporting 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)


 

Searchable Datalist of Countries Importing Nigeria’s Exports

You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of any of the columns below. The right-most shows the percentage change in value for each importing country since 2016.

RankImporter2017 Nigerian Exports2016-7
1. India$7.3 billion+22.4%
2. United States$5.2 billion+29.3%
3. Spain$4.1 billion+32.4%
4. Netherlands$3.4 billion+39.1%
5. France$3.1 billion+53.7%
6. South Africa$1.8 billion+1.8%
7. Canada$1.4 billion+39.3%
8. Indonesia$1.3 billion+8.4%
9. United Kingdom$1.1 billion-8.9%
10. Togo$997.5 million+497.5%
11. Italy$931.5 million+34.6%
12. Sweden$860.5 million+45.7%
13. China$672.7 million+26.5%
14. Côte d'Ivoire$632.5 million-21.6%
15. Germany$614.8 million+8.7%
16. Brazil$565.2 million-35.6%
17. Japan$468.9 million-0.6%
18. Portugal$451.9 million+15.1%
19. Turkey$416.8 million+94%
20. Senegal$350.9 million-25.2%
21. Cameroon$338.4 million-28.9%
22. Argentina$337.1 million+26.7%
23. Australia$331.1 million+390.3%
24. Gibraltar$314.9 million-29.4%
25. Thailand$304.2 million+14,511%
26. Singapore$285.2 million-12.8%
27. Ghana$228.3 million-42.8%
28. South Korea$209.1 million+46.5%
29. Uruguay$206.4 million+12.4%
30. Egypt$205.6 million-9%
31. Taiwan$199.2 million+111.2%
32. Malaysia$192.4 million+24%
33. United Arab Emirates$181.8 million+3.8%
34. Jordan$172.4 million-5.4%
35. Mexico$154.9 million+195.9%
36. Dominican Republic$119 million+2,265%
37. Peru$117.1 million+161.3%
38. Belgium$113 million+49.2%
39. Vietnam$96.7 million+159.4%
40. Kuwait$93.1 million+38.1%
41. Pakistan$91.7 million+130.6%
42. Benin$89.7 million-9.3%
43. Angola$84 million+14,768%
44. Niger$78.9 million+16.8%
45. Poland$52.8 million-11.9%
46. Denmark$49.3 million+157.4%
47. Ireland$36.7 million+117.7%
48. Morocco$35.1 million+84.4%
49. Tokelau$31.1 millionno 2016 data
50. Lithuania$24.5 million+4,283%
51. Mozambique$18.7 million+4371.3%
52. American Samoa$15.9 millionno 2016 data
53. Russia$15.2 million+861%
54. Estonia$14.8 million+110.2%
55. Guinea$10.1 million-23.3%
56. Greece$7.7 million+20%
57. Burkina Faso$5 million-46%
58. Ethiopia$4.7 million+171.7%
59. Sierra Leone$3.3 million+195%
60. Iceland$3.3 millionno 2016 data
61. Djibouti$3 million-41.9%
62. Kenya$2.6 million-40.7%
63. Mali$2.3 million+0.2%
64. Sao Tome/Principe$2.1 millionno 2016 data
65. Israel$2.1 million-5%
66. Gabon$1.9 million-43.2%
67. Congo$1.6 million+20.8%
68. Liberia$1.6 million-4.7%
69. Romania$1.6 million+58.3%
70. Iran$1.4 million+836.7%
71. Hong Kong$1.1 million-40.3%
72. Nepal$1.1 million+15.9%
73. Lebanon$721,000+135.6%
74. Bulgaria$645,000-7.6%
75. Finland$626,000-18.4%
76. Algeria$575,000-60.8%
77. Tanzania$550,000-69.7%
78. Saudi Arabia$544,000+9.7%
79. Myanmar (Burma)$520,000+29.7%
80. Democr. Rep. Congo$494,000-24.3%
81. Syrian Arab Republic$484,000-60.6%
82. Guatemala$481,000+2,729%
83. Mauritania$478,000+210.4%
84. Philippines$459,000+628.6%
85. Guinea-Bissau$434,000+14.2%
86. Sudan$433,000-0.7%
87. Georgia$379,000+335.6%
88. Gambia$365,000-38.8%
89. Libya$258,000+23.4%
90. Switzerland$174,000no 2016 data
91. Iraq$166,000-13.5%
92. Slovenia$136,000+353.3%
93. Qatar$129,000+34.4%
94. Zambia$123,000no 2016 data
95. Croatia$100,000+16.3%
96. Equatorial Guinea$98,000-79.5%
97. Latvia$75,000-52.5%
98. Chad$74,000-73.9%
99. Mauritius$69,000-57.7%
100. Bahrain$56,000-85.9%
101. Kazakhstan$46,000no 2016 data
102. Cyprus$42,000+950%
103. Zimbabwe$42,000-12.5%
104. Ukraine$38,000no 2016 data
105. New Zealand$24,000no 2016 data
106. El Salvador$22,000no 2016 data
107. Suriname$18,000no change
108. Oman$16,000no 2016 data
109. Slovakia$14,000no 2016 data
110. Nicaragua$13,000no 2016 data
111. Serbia$8,000no 2016 data
112. Namibia$4,000no 2016 data
113. Botswana$3,000no 2016 data
114. Austria$2,000no 2016 data

 

See also Nigeria’s Top 10 Exports, Nigeria’s Top 10 Imports and Top Asian Export Countries

Research Sources:
Forbes 2015 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 21, 2018

Investopedia, Net Importer Definition. Accessed on November 21, 2018

Pixabay, Nigeria World Cup Image, Conceptual Image. Accessed on November 21, 2018

The World Factbook, Field Listing: Imports – Commodities, Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on November 21, 2018

Trade Map, International Trade Centre, www.intracen.org/marketanalysis. Accessed on November 21, 2018

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Nigeria. Accessed on November 21, 2018

Wikipedia, Nigeria. Accessed on November 21, 2018




Filed Under: Africa, Spotlight, Trade partners