Pan-African
Where fuel took the largest share of merchandise imports
Fuel made up 39.56% of Nigeria’s merchandise imports in 2022, the highest share among seven African economies tracked here. Kenya followed at 26.45%. Compare the 2022 trade basket with the same countries in 2019 and inspect later national figures where available.
Sources checked
2022
Shared scale · 0% to 39.56%
2019
Shared scale · 0% to 39.56%
Each value uses the country’s own total merchandise import value as the denominator.
Nigeria recorded the largest share and largest increase
Nigeria’s fuel share rose from 15.52% in 2019 to 39.56% in 2022, a 24.04-point change. The 2025 record was lower at 33.16% but still more than double its 2019 share. These proportions describe the goods Nigeria imported. The series has no deduction for its fuel exports. Source 1
Kenya and South Africa increased, while Ethiopia declined
Kenya’s ratio rose from 19.22% in 2019 to 26.45% in 2022, and South Africa’s from 16.89% to 22.82%. Ethiopia fell from 16.75% to 6.38% before rising to 15.43% in 2023. A change in the import basket can reflect movements in fuel or in imports of other goods. Source 1
Recent figures are available for some countries only
Egypt’s share reached 21.44% in 2025 while Morocco recorded 10.39% and Kenya 21.17%. Rwanda’s last value in this extract was 15.33% in 2022. The comparison chooses a shared year across all seven economies, and the dataset keeps later observations for country-by-country use. Source 1
The basket covers more than crude oil
The statistical classification includes mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials. The values are shares of merchandise imports, rather than percentages of national energy consumption or imported tonnes. An increase can come from higher fuel prices, changes in physical volume or changes in the value of other goods. Source 2 Source 1