Refined petroleum products have overtaken crude oil as the United Kingdom’s largest goods import from Nigeria, accounting for 47.5% of British goods imports from the country in the year to March 2026, according to UK Department for Business and Trade figures.
The UK imported £674.5 million worth of refined petroleum products from Nigeria during the period, compared with £438.9 million in crude oil, whose share of UK imports fell to 30.9%. Natural gas ranked third at £179.3 million, or 12.6% of the total. UK purchases of Nigerian crude fell 64.3% from the previous 12-month period, while natural gas imports rose 6.9%.
The shift reflects rising output from Nigeria’s expanding refining sector even as trade between the two countries weakened overall: total UK-Nigeria goods and services trade fell 3.4% to £7.3 billion in the year to March 2026. Notably, refined fuel was simultaneously the UK’s largest goods export to Nigeria too, worth £725.6 million and accounting for 51.2% of total UK exports to the country, despite falling 44.7% year-on-year — underscoring how central refined-product trade has become on both sides of the relationship even as the underlying volumes shrink.
Source: thewillnews.com
