Nigeria Records Strong External Sector Performance With $4.98bn Surplus

Nigeria posted a significant improvement in its external sector performance in the first quarter of 2026, with its current account surplus climbing to $4.98 billion, representing a 255.7 per cent increase from the previous quarter.

The growth was largely fueled by stronger earnings from crude oil, gas and refined petroleum exports, coupled with a sharp reduction in fuel import bills.

The figures were contained in the latest Balance of Payments report released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday.

According to the apex bank, “provisional balance of payments statistics for Q1 2026 show a current account surplus of $4.98bn, which was higher than the $1.40bn and $3.41bn recorded in the preceding quarter (Q4 2025) and corresponding period (Q1 2025) respectively.”

The latest surplus exceeded the $1.40 billion recorded in the final quarter of 2025 by more than two and a half times and was also substantially higher than the $3.41 billion posted during the same period last year.

The CBN attributed the stronger performance to rising export receipts from the oil and gas sector, growing refined petroleum exports, lower fuel import costs and a reduction in payments made abroad under the primary income account.

Data from the report showed that crude oil export earnings rose to $8.11 billion in the quarter, compared to $6.77 billion in Q4 2025. Gas exports also improved to $2.53 billion from $2.24 billion, while refined petroleum exports increased to $2.37 billion from $1.97 billion.

At the same time, the country’s spending on imported refined petroleum products declined dramatically, dropping by 87.5 per cent to $310 million from $2.48 billion recorded in the preceding quarter.

The stronger export performance translated into a substantial improvement in the goods account, which generated a surplus of $5.95 billion during the quarter. This was a significant increase from the $1.77 billion recorded in the last quarter of 2025 and the $3.35 billion achieved in the corresponding period of 2025.