Pecohub Nigeria’s importation of passenger motor cars rebounded strongly in 2025 as relative stability in the foreign exchange market eased pressure on dealers and buyers, according to foreign trade statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Data from the NBS showed that the value of passenger motor car imports rose to N1.01tn in the first nine months of 2025, compared with N894.09bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.
This represents an increase of N113.15bn or 12.66 per cent year on year, signalling a clear turnaround after months of weak demand driven by currency volatility and rising landing costs. A closer examination of the quarterly figures shows that the recovery gathered momentum only in the second half of the year.
In the first quarter of 2025, passenger motor car imports were valued at N224.58bn, down from N238.73bn in the same period of 2024. This reflected a decline of N14.15bn or about 5.9 per cent, indicating that importers were still grappling with the impact of earlier exchange rate instability.
The second quarter followed a similar trajectory. Imports stood at N254.67bn between April and June 2025, compared with N291.93bn in the corresponding quarter of 2024. The difference of N37.26bn translated to a contraction of roughly 12.8 per cent, suggesting that caution persisted despite gradual improvements in FX liquidity.
The trend reversed sharply in the third quarter. Between July and September 2025, the value of passenger motor car imports jumped to N527.98bn, from N363.42bn in the same period of the previous year. This represented an increase of N164.56bn or about 45.3 per cent, more than offsetting the declines recorded in the first half of the year and driving the overall nine-month growth.
Country-level data shows the scale of the rebound. In the first quarter of 2025, imports of used vehicles with diesel or semi-diesel engines and a cylinder capacity above 2,500cc from the United States were valued at N93.51bn, making the United States Nigeria’s largest source of passenger vehicles in that period.
South Africa followed with N25.84bn worth of vehicles for goods transport, while imports from Angola and Liberia were marginal. In the second quarter, imports from the United States remained elevated at N99.18bn, while South Africa accounted for N21.43bn.
Liberia and Equatorial Guinea contributed smaller values, reflecting limited volumes in those categories. The surge became more pronounced in the third quarter. Used diesel vehicles above 2,500cc imported from the United States alone were valued at N184.21bn, nearly double the level recorded in the first quarter.
Additional imports included N38.15bn worth of used vehicles with engine capacity between 1,500cc and 2,500cc from the US market. The United Arab Emirates also emerged as a key source, with imports valued at N13.67bn, alongside N12.68bn worth of petrol engine vehicles imported in completely knocked down form.
The PUNCH further observed that vehicles traced to the US were valued at about N415.05bn in the first nine months of 2025, which means that the US accounted for 41.21 per cent of Nigeria’s total passenger motor car imports during the period under review.
South Africa followed at a distant level, with total imports valued at N47.27bn, representing 4.69 per cent of total imports for the period. The United Arab Emirates featured prominently in the third quarter, with imports totalling about N26.35bn, which was 2.62 per cent of the nine-month import value.
Overall, the data shows that while passenger motor car imports in the first half of 2025 were N51.41bn lower than the same period of 2024, the third quarter alone exceeded its 2024 equivalent by N164.56bn. This swing explains why the nine-month import value closed higher by more than N113bn.
