Nigeria’s fuel import bill rises by 97% to N4trn in 2021

Nigeria’s Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) import bill increased by over 97 per cent in 2021 as confusion remains over consumption numbers.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics‘ most recent foreign trade statistics report, a total of N3.96 trillion was spent on fuel imports in 2021, up from N2.01 trillion in 2020.

A breakdown from the report shows Nigeria’s reliance wholly on imports to meet its fuel needs as its refineries remained in a state of disrepair which came as a huge burden.

Petrol imports gobbled up N1.44 trillion in the fourth quarter, a 37 per cent increase compared to N1.05 trillion in Q3, N782.46 billion in Q2 and N687.74 billion in Q1.

The NBS also in its report revealed that the federal government of Nigeria exported N14 trillion worth of crude in 2021 compared to N9.44 trillion sold the previous year.

READ ALSO: Nigeria to use $2.2bn Eurobond cash for fuel subsidy payments

According to the analysis of the report, crude oil sales accounted for 76.22 per cent of the total exports made during the year under review.

The report showed that India led the table of the top five countries that bought Nigerian crude after paying over N1.98 trillion.

This was followed by Spain’s N1.44 trillion paid during the full year for Nigerian crude while Spain came in at third place with N863.3 billion purchase.

To complete the top five countries were Canada and the United States of America as they spent N422.7 billion and N400 billion respectively buying Nigeria’s crude oil.

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