Nigeria’s Foreign Trade Drops to N6.56tn in Q2

James Emejo in Abuja

Nigeria’s total value of merchandise trade dropped to N6.56 trillion in the second quarter of the year (Q2 2018), representing a -8.89 per cent contraction compared to the N7.21 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has stated.

According to the Foreign Trade Statistics for Q2, which was released Thursday, the statistical agency attributed the contraction to the decline in both imports and exports in the review period.

However, the country posted a surplus of N2.35 trillion, representing 8.36 per cent increase compared to N2.17 trillion in Q1 in its trade balance for the period under assessment.

Total imports stood at N2.11 trillion indicating a -16.3 per cent decrease compared to N2.51 trillion in Q1.

On the other hand, total exports amounted to N4.46 trillion, indicating a contraction of -4.9 per cent compared to the N4.69 trillion posted in Q1.

Crude oil accounted for 83.5 per cent of total trade while non-oil exports accounted for only 4.3 per cent of total exports. Nonetheless, exports accounted for 67 per cent of total trade, the NBS stated.

India and China remained the country’s major trading partners in terms of export and import destinations with trade values of 16.19 per cent and 25.28 per cent respectively.

The value of imported agricultural goods stood at N224.52 billion, showing an increase of 21.7 per cent compared to N184.49 billion Q1.

Raw materials imports totalled N261.10 billion, a decline of -8.3 per cent compared to N284.81 billion in Q1.

The value of manufactured goods imported in the review period was N1.17 trillion, representing a decline of -1.2 per cent over the preceding quarter which stood at N1.18 trillion.

However, the value of exported agricultural goods in Q2 stood at N85.90 billion, representing a 17.3 per cent rise when compared to N73.24 billion in Q1 and 127.3 per cent higher than the value recorded in Q2, 2017 which stood at N37.79 billion.

Crude Oil exports totalled N3.72 trillion, representing 4.2 per cent increase from N3.57 trillion in Q1 and 53.7 per cent higher than the N2.42 trillion in Q2 2017.

Other oil products exports was valued at N516.32 billion, indicating a decline of 3.6 per cent in relation to the N535.68 billion recorded in Q1 and a 0.8 per cent growth from the value recorded in Q2, 2017 at N512.41 billion.

The value of exported manufactured goods in Q2 stood at N69.86 billion, repenting a significant decline of -83.9 per cent compared to N434.37 billion in Q1 and higher by 0.9 per cent when compared to N69.26 billion in Q2 2017.

Also, raw material exports value dropped by -2.98 per cent in Q2 to N31.72 billion compared to N32.70 billion in Q1, while solid minerals exports value dropped to N19.93 billion or -25.98 per cent lower than the N26.92 billion in Q1.

The value of Energy goods exports stood at N10.99 billion or 5.8 per cent higher than the N10.39 billion posted in the preceding quarter.