Nigeria’s total export value in the fourth quarter of 2020 saw a 6.7 percent increase against the value recorded in the third quarter of the same year.
This disclosure was made by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS). It added that the value of exports recorded in Q4 2020 was 33.3 percent lower than Q4 2019.
It went further to add that total exports, on an annual basis, dropped by 34.8 percent in 2020 than was recorded in 2019.
The report noted that the country’s merchandise trade in the fourth quarter of 2020 stood at N9.12 billion, 8.9 percent higher than was recorded in the third quarter of the same period.
Export trade accounted for N3,194.5 billion, which represents a 6.7 percent increase over the quarter preceding it but a 33 percent drop over the year prior.
Imports, on the other hand, saw a 10.1 percent increase in the fourth quarter of 2020, reaching a record high of N5,925.7.
It also accounted for 65 percent of the total trade in the fourth quarter of 2020 against the 53 percent recorded the year before.
Nigeria’s importation almost doubled the country’s export trade value, while the deficit in trade rose to its highest at -N2,731.2 billion.
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Import Trading
Goods imported into the country mostly came from the Asian giant China, with 28.28 percent, while India, United States, Netherlands, and Denmark followed respectively with 8.54 percent; 7.57 percent; 7.16 percent; and 5.40 percent.
Export Trading
Nigeria’s major export trading partners in the fourth quarter of 2020 include India (17.12 percent), Spain (9.81 percent), South Africa (8.03 percent), Netherlands (6.09 percent), and the United States (5.30 percent).
The report stated that the agricultural products mostly traded were sesamum seeds, good fermented Nigerian cocoa beans, sesame oil, cashew nuts, cocoa beans, shea nuts, and palm nuts and kernel.
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“During the quarter, Nigeria imported goods mainly from Asia, valued at N2,847.8 billion or 48.06% of total
imports. This was followed by Europe at N2,163.1 billion or 36.5%, America at N702.5 billion or 11.86%, Africa at N190.1 billion or 3.21% and Oceania at N22.3 billion or 0.38%. Imports from ECOWAS countries accounted for N22.5 billion, or 0.4% of the value of total imports,” the report read.
Adding, “Similarly, on an annual basis, Asia also accounted for the largest imports to Nigeria, representing 49.3% of total imports, valued at N9,808 billion in 2020. This was followed by Europe with imports valued at N6,626 billion, or 33.3% of total imports, and America, which recorded N2,635.8 billion or 13.2% of total
imports.”
