Nigeria’s trade import exceeded its export in the second quarter of this year by N1.8 trillion, according to the latest trade report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
The country exported goods worth N5.08 trillion or 42 percent while the import was valued at N6.95 trillion or 58 percent, leading to a trade deficit of N1.87 trillion.
The Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Report for Q2’21 stated that foreign trade rose by 23 percent to N12 trillion from N9.8 trillion in Q1 2021.
The NBS report stated, “During Q2’21, the total merchandise trade stood at N12.03 trillion representing 23 percent increase over the value (N9.8 trillion) recorded in Q1’21 and 88.7 percent increase compared to Q2’20.
“This increase resulted from the sharp increase in export value during the quarter under review.
It said, “The crude oil which is the major component of export trade stood at N4.07 trillion or 80.3 percent of total export. This further shows a sharp increase of 111 percent in Crude oil value in Q2’21 compared to (N1.9 trillion) recorded in Q1’21 while the Non-crude oil export recorded N1 trillion or 20 percent of total export trade during Q2’21.”
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On export, the bureau stated, “Export by section revealed that Mineral products accounted for N4.6 trillion or 91 per cent of total export trade. This was followed by vehicles, aircraft and parts; vessels N141.73 billion or 3.0 percent , vegetable products N92.80 billion or 1.8 percent, among others.
“In terms of regional trade, Nigeria exported most products to Asia (N1.8 trillion or 36 percent), Europe (N1.8 trillion or 36 per cent), America (N806.81billion or 16 percent) and Africa (N584.11 billion or 12 percent) while Oceania totalled N23.28 billion or 0.5 percent.
“During the quarter goods worth N363.3 billion was exported to ECOWAS.”
