That calculated dollar amount results from a 70.2% advance from $33.4 billion five years earlier during 2020.
Year over year, the total value of Nigerian exports retreated by -6.4% compared to $60.7 billion for 2023.
Based on our calculated exchange rate for 2024, the Nigerian naira depreciated by -58.3% against the US dollar from 2023 to 2024. Nigeria’s weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers using American currency.
Nigeria’s biggest export is crude petroleum oil, a commodity that represents well over two-thirds (70.5%) 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 from 2023 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 227.7 million people, the total $56.8 billion in 2024 Nigerian exports translates to roughly $250 for every person in the West African nation. That dollar metric lags the average $275 per capita for 2023.
Nigeria’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Nigerian global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Nigeria.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$49.3 billion (86.8% of total exports)
- Cocoa: $2.6 billion (4.6%)
- Fertilizers: $914.5 million (1.6%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $823.9 million (1.5%)
- Oil seeds: $603.5 million (1.1%)
- Copper: $366 million (0.6%)
- Aluminum: $317.3 million (0.6%)
- Gems, precious metals: $263.6 million (0.5%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $257.3 million (0.5%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $220.6 million (0.4%)
Nigeria’s top 10 export product categories are highly concentrated accounting for 98% of the overall value of the African country’s global shipments.
Ores, slag and ash was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 419.2% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was salt, sulphur, stone and cement via a 321.6% upturn.
Nigeria’s shipments of cocoa posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 244.4%.
The leading decliner among Nigeria’s top 10 export categories was oil seeds, pulled down by a -24.3% 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 was crude oil (70.5% of the Nigerian total). In second place were petroleum gases (11.3%) trailed by processed petroleum oils (5%), coco beans (4.1%), nitrogenous fertilizers (1.6%), oil seeds (0.6%), tin ores and concentrates (0.5%), unwrought aluminum (also 0.5%), copper waste and scrap (0.4%) then solid residues including soya-bean oil cake (also 0.4%).
Products Generating Greatest Trade Surpluses for Nigeria
Nigeria earned an overall US$9.6 billion trade surplus for 2024, exploding by 12,575% from $75.5 million in black ink compared to 2023.
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$39 billion (Up by 10.5% since 2023)
- Cocoa: $2.6 billion (Up by 259%)
- Fertilizers: $838.3 million (Up by 12.1%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $821.8 million (Up by 431.7%)
- Oil seeds: $564.9 million (Down by -28.2%)
- Copper: $329.2 million (Up by 177.4%)
- Gems, precious metals: $205.5 million (Up by 65.4%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $194.5 million (Reversing a -$198.3 million deficit)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $162.9 million (Up by 341.1%)
- Lead: $98.7 million (Up by 0.8%)
Historically, 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.
- Machinery including computers: -US$4.8 billion (Down by -12.7% since 2023)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$4.4 billion (Up by 52%)
- Vehicles: -$2.9 billion (Down by -76.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$2.3 billion (Up by 40.2%)
- Cereals: -$1.5 billion (Down by -26.8%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$1.4 billion (Up by 84.1%)
- Manmade filaments: -$1.1 billion (Up by 3335.3%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$984.4 million (Up by 39.9%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: -$932.3 million (Up by 501%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: -$798.9 million (Down by -21.1%)
Nigeria has notably negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under machinery-related 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 3.8% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($1.498 trillion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 3.8% for exports to overall GDP per PPP in 2024 compares to 4.4% for 2023. 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 averaged 3.07% at the start of 2024, down from 3.82% one year earlier 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 May 5, 2025
EXCHANGE-RATES.org Nigeria Naira (NGN) to US Dollar, Exchange Rate History. Accessed on May 5, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 5, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on May 5, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 5, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 5, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on May 5, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Nigeria. Accessed on May 5, 2025
Wikipedia, Nigeria. Accessed on May 5, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on May 5, 2025