The U.S Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis has reported that Nigeria imported motor vehicles and automotive parts worth $602 million from the United States between January and May this year, representing 41.3 per cent increase from the $426m recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
The just published data by the Bureau showed that passenger cars accounted for the largest share of exports to Nigeria during the five-month period.
A further analysis of the data reflected that U.S. exports of passenger cars to Nigeria rose to $454 million from January this year to May, up from $312 million worth of imported passenger vehicles last year, representing an increase of 45.5 per cent.
On a monthly basis, Nigeria imported $124m worth of motor vehicles and auto parts from the United States in May, slightly lower than the $131m recorded in April just as passenger car imports declined to $93m in May from $98m in April.
- Advertisement -
Also, imported trucks, buses and special-purpose vehicles fell marginally to $6m in the month under review from $7m in the preceding month and automotive parts imports remained unchanged at $26m in May and April.
According to the data, when analyzed on a year-on-year basis, total imports rose by 30.5 per cent from $95m in May 2025 to $124m even as passenger car imports increased by 32.9 per cent from $70m in May last year to $93m in May 2026, compared with the automotive parts imports, which rose by 36.8 per cent from $19m in May 2025 to $26m May this year. However, trucks, buses and special-purpose vehicles’ importation declined from $7m in May 2025 to $5m this year.
The Bureau reported that total U.S. exports of motor vehicles and auto parts to all countries stood at $66.08bn in the first five months of 2026, compared with $69.32bn in the corresponding period of 2025, representing a 4.7 per cent decline.
A breakdown of the data based on vehicle types showed that passenger car exports fell to $19.52bn from $22.04bn year-on-year, while exports of trucks, buses and special-purpose vehicles marginally rose to $10.99bn from $10.94bn.
While automotive parts remained the largest export segment, its shipments declined to $35.56bn this year from $36.33bn in the same period of 2025.
The exports data on countries of destination reflected that Canada remained the largest destination for U.S. automotive exports from January to May this year, receiving $24.70bn worth of vehicles and parts, followed by Mexico with $16.83bn and Germany with $3.72bn.
In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Nigeria recorded the highest value of U.S. automotive imports at $602m, followed by South Africa, which imported $313m worth of vehicles and parts during the first five months of 2026.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) reported that the total number of imported vehicles handled at the ports during the first quarter of this year rose to 58,870 units from 35,262 units recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, representing a 67 percent surge.
The authority, in its ‘Q1 2026 Operational Performance Review’ report stated: “Vehicle traffic also emerged as a major growth area, with total vehicle units handled rising sharply by 67 per cent to 58,870 units during the quarter, compared to 35,262 units in the same period last year.”
