According to figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria’s petrol import bill reduced to $10 billion by 2025.
In its 2025 balance of payments (BOP) report, the bank stated that petrol imports declined by 28.88 percent from $14.06 billion in 2024.
The data shows a drop following the start of petrol production at the Dangote plant.
On September 3, 2025, Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, declared the start of petrol production at his refinery.
According to the CBN research, non-oil imports rose from $25.74 billion in 2024 to $29.24 billion in 2025, a 13.6 percent increase.
The report indicates that crude oil export earnings fell 14.41 percent, from $36.85 billion in 2024 to $31.54 billion in 2025.
However, gas exports grew from $8.66 billion in 2024 to $10.51 billion in 2025, or a 21.36% increase.
Non-oil exports increased by 24.8 percent, from $7.46 billion in 2024 to $9.31 billion in 2025.
Overall, the CBN said the goods account—the largest subgroup of the current account—remained in excess, recording $14.51 billion in 2025 compared to $13.17 billion in 2024.
According to the report, the higher positive balance in the goods account “is driven by significant increase in gas exports to other economies and significant export of refined petroleum products worth US$5.85bn by Dangote Refinery.”
According to the apex bank, the trend was also fueled by increasing availability of refined petroleum products from the Dangote refinery, which resulted in a large decline in gasoline imports.
BALANCE OF PAYMENT
The CBN reported that the provisional balance of payments numbers for 2025 indicated a current account surplus of $14.04 billion, down from $19.03 billion the previous year.
However, the bank stated that the sum was significantly higher than the $6.42 billion reported in 2023.
The CBN stated that the current account deficit was primarily caused by a dip in crude oil export profits, as well as crude oil imports totaling $3.74 billion from the Dangote refinery.
The apex bank also indicated an increase in non-oil imports and a 9.13 percent increase in net outflows for services, from $13.36 billion in 2024 to $14.58 billion in 2025.
CBN also said a major contributor was the 60.88 percent surge in net outflows in the primary income account, which grew from $5.65 billion to $9.09 billion.
“Debit balance in the services account increased to US$14.58 billion in 2025, from US$13.36 billion recorded in 2024,” CBN said.
The apex bank added that secondary income account decreased from $24.88 billion in 2024 to $23.20 billion in 2025.
“The Financial account recorded a net borrowing of US$1.69 billion in 2025, as against a net lending of $9.65 billion recorded in 2024,” the CBN said.
The bank added that Nigeria’s overall balance of payments “for 2025 resulted in a surplus of $4.23 billion as against a surplus of $6.83 billion in 2024”.
CBN said external reserves stood at $45.75 billion at the end of December 2025, representing an increase of about 13.83 percent compared with the end of 2024.
