How Nigeria earned $31.54 billion from crude oil exports in 2025

Nigeria made $31.54 billion from crude oil exports in 2025, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

This is 14.41% lower than the $36.85 billion earned in 2024. The drop shows that oil earnings weakened, even though oil is still Nigeria’s main source of foreign income.

Key points from the report

Nigeria had a current account surplus of $14.04 billion in 2025, down from $19.03 billion in 2024.

The CBN said the decline was mainly due to lower crude oil earnings.

Production increased, but earnings fell

Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed:

Crude oil production rose to 530.41 million barrels in 2025

This is higher than 408.68 million barrels in 2024

However:

Total production (including condensates) was 599.64 million barrels, below the target of 766.5 million barrels

Nigeria missed its OPEC quota in most months

Issues like outages and operational problems affected output and revenue.

Gas and refining helped exports grow

Even though crude oil earnings dropped, total oil and gas exports increased:

Total exports rose to $48.17 billion (from $45.51 billion in 2024)

Gas exports increased by 21.36% to $10.51 billion

Refined petroleum exports reached $6.13 billion

This growth is partly due to the Dangote Refinery, which is boosting local refining and exports of finished products.

Imports and foreign payments increased

Non-oil imports rose to $29.24 billion

Payments for services (travel, transport, insurance) increased

Payments to foreign investors (dividends and interest) also rose sharply

Other important developments

Fuel imports dropped from $14.06 billion to $10 billion, thanks to local refining

Nigeria still imported $3.74 billion worth of crude oil for refining

Overall economic position

Balance of Payments surplus fell to $4.23 billion (from $6.83 billion in 2024)

Foreign reserves increased to $45.75 billion

Summary

Nigeria earned less from crude oil in 2025 despite producing more.

Gas exports and local refining helped support total exports, but rising imports and external payments reduced overall gains.