For the first time in 48 years, the United States is no longer Nigeria’s biggest trading partner, being overtaken in the first quarter of 2012 by India.
The jump was largely due to India becoming more interested in increasing its import of crude oil from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. Since 1964, the U.S. has been Nigeria’s biggest trade partner.
Nigeria’s National Bureau of Labor Statistics issued a report which put the total value of Nigerian imports at N4.9 trillion (Nigerian naira)—of which N688.5 billion was to India and N607.7 billion was to the United States. After the U.S., Nigeria’s next biggest trading partners were Netherlands (N482.1 billion), Spain (N390.4 billion) and Brazil (N328.9 billion).
