Nigeria spent about N12trn on the importation of petroleum products, including premium motor spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, in 2023.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the Fourth Quarter of 2023 disclosed that fuel import for 2023 rose by 18.68 per cent when compared with the N10trn spent to import the commodity in 2022.
Specifically, the statistics agency stated that the country spent N7.5trn on PMS import, dropping by 2.51 per cent compared with N7.7trn fuel imported in 2022.
The NBS reported that petroleum products imports accounted for about 33 per cent of total imports of about N36trn in 2023, while PMS imports accounted for about 21 per cent of total imports.
Nigeria as an oil-producing country is expected to be able to refine its petroleum products, however, non-functional refineries have forced the country into importing most of the products consumed in-country.
Giving a breakdown of the amount spent on petroleum products imported every quarter, the NBS stated that N3.3trn, N3.4trn, N2.2trn and about N3trn worth of petrol were imported in the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2023, respectively.
In comparison, the NBS reported that in the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2022, the country spent N3.5trn, N2.4trn, N2.3trn and N1.9trn on fuel imports, respectively.
