By Elizabeth Adegbesan
Nigeria recorded a $480 million trade surplus in January 2026, driven by a 4.46 percent increase in export receipts to a record $4.68 billion, largely fueled by petroleum products.
This represents a 220 percent month-on-month (MoM) increase in trade surplus when compared to$150 million recorded in December 2025.  
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, disclosed this in its January Monthly Economic Report, noting that while export earnings rose import bills also increased by 3.0 percent to $4.77 billion, with oil and gas products accounting for 83.12 percent of total export receipts.  
CBN said: “Transactions in the goods account resulted in a higher trade surplus, owing to an increase in export receipts. “Provisional data indicated that   the trade surplus rose to $480 million, from $150 million in the  preceding month.  
“The higher surplus was driven by the 4.46 per cent increase in export to $4.68 billion, following the increase in the  export of
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