Nigeria has witnessed a substantial decrease in petrol imports after President Bola Tinubu decided to end fuel subsidies in May 2023. According to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), petrol imports fell by 29.99% from 11.94 billion litres in the first half of 2023 to 8.36 billion litres in the second half.
This drop means a reduction of 3.58 billion litres and a 30.22% decrease compared to the same period in 2022, when imports were 11.98 billion litres. For the whole year of 2023, total petrol imports were 20.30 billion litres, which is 13.77% less than in 2022.
The removal of fuel subsidies caused fuel prices to go up, with some stations selling petrol for N700 per litre. However, despite the higher prices, Nigeria’s spending on fuel imports decreased by 2.6% from N7.7 trillion in 2022 to N7.5 trillion in 2023. In the second half of 2023, the cost of fuel imports was N3.5 trillion, which is 10.26% less than the same period in 2022.
In the first half of 2024, the country’s spending on imported petrol jumped to N5.8 trillion, which is an 87.09% rise from N3.1 trillion during the same time in 2023. This big increase is due to higher oil prices and a weaker naira.
Idris Mohammed, the Minister of Information, mentioned that Nigeria’s use of petrol at home fell by 50% after the subsidy was removed, implying that the imported petrol is being sent to other places.
