Refined oil exports surged 62.8%, driving UK–Nigeria trade to £8bn and widening Britain’s trade surplus to £3.3bn in 2025

Refined oil accounted for more than two-thirds of the United Kingdom’s total goods exports to Nigeria in the four quarters ending June 2025, rising sharply to £1.5bn, according to the latest UK–Nigeria Trade and Investment Factsheet released by the UK Department for Business and Trade.

Also read: Nigeria Non-Oil Export Data Rises to N3.17tn, as Data Gaps Fuel Debate

The report, based on data from the Office for National Statistics, revealed that refined oil made up 68.8 per cent of all goods exported from the UK to Nigeria during the period — a 62.8 per cent increase compared with the previous year.

Total UK exports to Nigeria rose by 12.3 per cent to £5.6bn, while imports from Nigeria increased by 8.2 per cent to £2.3bn, bringing total bilateral trade to £8bn — up 11.1 per cent (£793m) from the four quarters ending June 2024.

Refined oil remained the key driver of UK exports to Nigeria, followed by:

Toilet and cleansing products – £55.8m

Industrial machinery – £42.7m

Textile fabrics – £40.1m

Mechanical power generators – £35.1m

All top export categories recorded growth, with industrial machinery up 36.4%, cleansing products rising 26.5%, textile fabrics increasing 14.5%, and power generators up 8.7%.

Goods exports accounted for £2.2bn (38.4%) of total UK exports, while services contributed £3.5bn (61.6%). Although goods exports surged by 43.5%, services dipped slightly by 1.1%.

Nigeria’s exports to the UK

Nigeria’s top export to the UK was crude oil (£1.3bn), representing 73.1% of goods sent to Britain. Refined oil followed at £223.8m (13.1%), and gas exports totalled £167.8m (9.8%).

Other notable exports included:

Beverages and tobacco – £14.6m (up 29.8%)

Plastics in primary forms – £12.8m

Gas exports recorded the fastest growth at 75% year-on-year, followed by refined oil (62.6%) and crude oil (7.9%).

Analysts noted that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, capable of processing up to 650,000 barrels of crude daily, is enabling Nigeria to shift from crude exports to refined product exports.

Trade surplus and investment trends

The UK posted a £3.3bn trade surplus with Nigeria in the period, up from £2.8bn the previous year. The goods surplus widened to £441m from £51m, while the services surplus remained at £2.8bn.

Nigeria ranked as the UK’s 36th largest trading partner and 27th largest export market, accounting for 0.4% of total UK trade.

However, investment flows declined, with UK foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nigeria down 24.7% to £385m, while Nigeria’s FDI in the UK fell 41.2% to £489m.

London and the South East of England accounted for the largest share of UK exports to Nigeria, underscoring the concentration of trade activity in those regions.

Policy shifts and future outlook

Nigeria’s import of refined oil is expected to fall in the coming months following President Bola Tinubu’s approval of a 15% import levy on petrol and diesel — a policy aimed at protecting local refineries such as Dangote Refinery and smaller modular plants.

The levy, applied on Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) values, could raise the landed cost of imported fuel by about N99.72 per litre, potentially discouraging imports while boosting domestic refining.

Also read: Nigeria Upstream Oil Resurgence Boosts Output, Revenue, Investor Trust

While some experts believe the policy will stabilise supply and strengthen local production in the long term, others warn that it could raise pump prices and intensify economic hardship in the short term.