Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has reported Nigeria’s exports rose significantly in the first quarter of this year with the attendant positive implications for the nation’s revenue collections, and cargo throughput.
The revenue agency, in a data released on Sunday on the nation’s merchandize trade trend in the quarter under review, reported that the increase was primarily due to surge in non-oil trade volume, which rose by 38.68 per cent year-on-year to $925.84 million, compared to the corresponding period of 2025.
According to the Customs’ data, the number of export containers handled in the quarter also increased to 19,014 from 9,722 containers handle by the Service in the corresponding quarter of 2025, representing a 95.58 per cent increase.
The NCS clarified: “Exports processed in Q1 2026 stood at $925.84m, representing a 38.68 per cent increase compared to Q1 2025, while total containers handled rose to 19,014 from 9,722, indicating a 95.58 per cent growth.”
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The monthly export performance data reflected that although in January 2026 there was a slight drop of 1.12 per cent to $267.66m from $270.70m collected in January 2025, the nation’s exports rebounded in February this year, rising by 12.43 per cent to $253.12m. Similarly, the export value rose year-on-year on to $425.48m in March 2026, indicating 135.83 per cent increase from $171.76m recorded in March 2025.
On the export revenue collections, the Customs Service disclosed that the growth in collections in the quarter under review was largely due to export-related charges.
Specifically, it reported that export surcharge collections increased from N163.66m in Q1 2025 to N199.36m in Q1 2026, representing a growth of 21.81 per cent just as NESS collections rose from N5.01bn to N6.03bn, indicating a 20.15 per cent increase.
It would be recalled that the NCS has been improving its revenue generation in the past few years due to fiscal reforms of the government. For instance, last year it raked in N7.281tn, which surpassed its approved annual target of N6.5tn by N697bn, representing more than 10 per cent above the target and about 19 per cent increase compared to the N6.1tn it collected in 2024.
The revenue agency has a revenue projection of about N9tn for this fiscal year.
