Nigeria records N8.6trn merchandise trade in Q2 —NBS

Exports of various types of products dominated Nigeria’s trade structure as the country’s merchandise trade hits N8.6tn in the second quarter of this year, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics have revealed.

The NBS in its second quarter merchandise trade report which was released on Thursday said the second quarter trade of N8.6tn is 4.4 percent higher than the first quarter figure of N8.24tn

The N8.6tn trade is made up of import value of N4tn, which represents 46.6 per cent of total trade and export of N4.59tn, which is about 53.4 percent of total trade.

The report said during the period, trade balance remained favourable, valued at N588.8bn.

It said the value of total trade was 15.43 per cent higher at half year 2019 than for the same period in 2018.

It reads in part, “In Q2, 2019, the value of Nigeria’s total trade stood at N8.6tn, comprising 46.6 percent imports and 53.4 percent exports.

“The value of total trade in Q2, 2019 was higher by 4.4 per cent when compared to Q1 2019, but 24.2 percent higher when compared with Q2, 2018.

“The trade balance remained favourable, valued at N588.8bn. Combined with the Q1 2019 performance, however, the trade balance declined by 63.14 percent relative to the same period in 2018, while the value of total trade was 15.43 percent higher at half year 2019 than for the same period in 2018.”

The report stated that in the second quarter, crude oil remained the major export as it accounted for N3.93tn or 85.6 per cent of total exports while non-crude oil exports contributed N661.6bn or 14.37 percent.

On a year on year basis, the report stated that the value of crude oil exports was 4.4 percent higher in the second quarter in the second quarter of 2018.

However, it said excluding all oil-related commodity exports, the value of non-oil exports rose by 4.1 percent in the second quarter.

The NBS report stated that the value of imported agricultural products was 5.79 percent higher in the second quarter than the first quarter.

For raw materials imports, it said this grew 4.97 percent over the value recorded in the first quarter, while the value of Solid minerals imports was 63.46 percent higher than in the first quarter.

The report stated that China continues to dominate Nigeria’s import accounting for 25.47 percent of imported goods.

This is followed by imports from the United States with 10.53 percent, Netherlands 9.33 percent, India 7.48 percent and Belgium 6.21 percent.