IN SHORT: China’s exports to Nigeria surged 37% to $13 billion in 2025, representing more than a quarter of Nigeria’s total import bill of $46.7 billion. The jump widens a structural trade imbalance that has seen Nigeria accumulate an $18 billion deficit with China, exporting mostly raw materials while importing higher-value manufactured goods and industrial inputs.
Nigeria’s imports from China rose 37% to $13 billion in 2025, extending Beijing’s position as the country’s dominant supplier and deepening a structural trade imbalance that analysts warn is limiting domestic industrial development and placing persistent pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange reserves. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics analysed by Finance in Africa shows China’s share of Nigeria’s $46.7 billion total import bill stands at over a quarter, with quarterly values building consistently from $3.14 billion in Q1 to $3.61 billion in Q4.
- China’s $13 billion in exports to Nigeria in 2025 is up from $9.5 billion in 2024, a $3.5 billion increase in a single year.
- Top imports from China included machinery for data transmission ($439 million), solar cells ($244 million), and plant equipment and herbicides ($244 million), reflecting demand across infrastructure, energy, and manufacturing sectors.
- Asia as a whole accounted for $21.7 billion of Nigeria’s imports, more than 10 times Nigeria’s imports from Africa, which stood at a fraction of that total.
- Europe was Nigeria’s second-largest import source at $14.4 billion, though Nigeria maintained a $5.9 billion trade surplus with Europe through stronger export flows.
- Trade with the Americas more than doubled to $16.9 billion, with imports and exports roughly balanced at $8.3 billion and $8.6 billion respectively.
- Nigeria’s total trade surplus of $13.7 billion in 2025 was sustained by oil exports of $30.9 billion, which accounted for 55% of total export earnings despite a decline in Brent crude from $79 per barrel in January to $63 in December.
- Non-oil exports contributed just 20% of total shipments, signalling limited progress in diversifying Nigeria’s export base.
China’s structural advantages in the Nigerian market are well established: competitive pricing, an extensive manufacturing base capable of supplying everything from consumer goods to heavy machinery, and sustained bilateral engagement through Belt and Road infrastructure financing. A recent duty-free access policy covering 53 African countries including Nigeria may deepen ties further, though analysts note the practical impact is limited because most African exports to China are primary commodities that already attract minimal tariffs.
The Bigger Picture: The $13 billion figure is a symptom of a structural problem that Nigeria has been trying to address for a decade without success. Nigeria exports crude oil and imports manufactured goods. That pattern generates FX pressure, limits domestic industrial job creation, and creates dependence on external supply chains for the capital goods Nigeria needs to grow. The solar cell imports at $244 million are the one encouraging sign: Nigeria is building renewable energy capacity, and that spending flows back into long-term productivity. But until Nigeria can close the gap between what it buys from the world and what it makes at home, every naira devaluation makes the import bill worse and the industrial development agenda harder. The China relationship is not the problem. The absence of a competitive Nigerian manufacturing sector is.
Source: Finance in Africa
