The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that Nigeria had a trade surplus of ₦3.2 trillion between January and June of 2022.
This was stated by the bureau in a recent report titled ‘Foreign trade in goods statistics (Q2 2022).’
Nigeria’s total exports were ₦14.5 trillion in the first half of the year, while total imports were ₦11.3 trillion, yielding a trade surplus of ₦3.2 trillion.
A trade surplus is an economic indicator of a positive trade balance in which a country’s exports exceed its imports.
Nigeria’s total trade in the first quarter of 2022 was ₦13 trillion. This was more than the ₦11.7 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2021 and the ₦7.69 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2020.
The country’s total trade stood at ₦12.1 trillion in Q2, which was lower than the value recorded in Q1 2022, but added up to ₦22.8 trillion for the first half of 2022.
According to the NBS Q1 report, the improvement in Nigeria’s merchandise trade was due to an increase in crude oil exports, which stood at ₦5.62 trillion, up 31.66 percent from ₦4.27 trillion in Q4 2021.
“Total Exports were ₦7.1 trillion of which re-exports stood at ₦115.80 billion, while total imports stood at ₦5.90 trillion,” the report reads.
“In the quarter under review, total exports increased by 23.13 percent when compared to the fourth quarter of 2021 (₦5.77 trillion) and by 137.88 percent of the value recorded in the first quarter of 2021 (₦2.98 trillion).
“On the other hand, total imports increased by 21.04 percent in the first quarter of 2022 when compared to the value recorded in the first quarter of 2021 (₦4.88 trillion) and decreased by 0.67 percent when compared to the value recorded in the preceding quarter (₦5.94 trillion).”
This resulted in a positive trade balance (surplus) of ₦1.19 trillion in Q1 2022. In Q2, the country’s exports totaled $7.4 trillion, a 4.31 percent increase over Q1 2022.
“The export trade in the quarter under review stood at ₦7.41 trillion showing a rise of 4.31 percent over the value recorded in the preceding quarter and also increased by 47.55 percent over the corresponding period of the preceding year,” the report reads.
“Furthermore, the share of exports in total trade stood at 57.68 percent in Q2, 2022.
“On the other hand, total imports were valued at ₦5.41 trillion in Q2, 2022 indicating a decrease of 7.89 percent over the value recorded in the preceding quarter.”
However, the value increased by 15.83 percent when compared to the same period in 2021. Imports accounted for 42.32 percent of total trade in the second quarter of 2022.
In the second quarter of 2022, the trade balance was ₦1.97 trillion.
According to the report, China accounted for the majority of imported goods in the first half of 2022, with a value of ₦2.93 trillion, followed by the Netherlands (₦1.05 trillion), Belgium (₦1.03 trillion), India (₦874.78 billion), and the United States (₦700.25 billion).
In the meantime, the majority of goods were exported to India (₦2.28 trillion), Spain (₦1.71 trillion), the Netherlands (₦1.58 trillion), Indonesia (₦1.1 trillion), and the United States (₦1.03 trillion).
