Foreign Trade Hits N52.38tn in 2022, N11.72tn in Q4

•Exports dominated by crude oil at N4.91tn, Spain is major trading partner

James Emejo in Abuja

Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N11.72 trillion in the fourth quarter of last year (Q4 2022), indicating a decline of 4.52 per cent over the value recorded in the preceding quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The NBS disclosed that total exports rose by 7.17 per cent to N6.35 trillion in Q4, compared to N5.93 trillion in the preceding quarter, and by 10.28 per cent when compared to N5.76 trillion in Q4 2021.

Re-export’s value in the quarter under review stood at N199.59 billion representing 3.14 per cent of total exports.

On the other hand, total imports declined by 15.46 per cent to N5.36 trillion in Q4 compared to N6.34 trillion in the preceding quarter and by 9.73 per cent compared to N5.94 trillion in the corresponding quarter.

According to the Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics (Q4 2022) which was posted on the NBS website, on an annual basis, however, total trade stood at N52.38 trillion with imports amounting to N25.59 trillion while exports totaled N26.79 trillion.

Exports trade was dominated by crude oil exports valued at N4.91 trillion and accounted for 77.24 per cent of total exports while non-crude oil exports value stood at N1.44 trillion or 22.76 per cent of total exports of which non-oil products contributed N732.24 billion, representing 11.51 per cent of total exports.

Spain, Netherlands, India, France and Indonesia remained the country’s top five export destinations in the quarter under review, accounting for N617.17 billion or 9.70 per cent, N574.55 billion or 9.03 per cent, N490.45 billion or 7.71 per cent, N489.82 billion or 7.70 per cent and N473.27 billion or 7.44 per cent of total exports respectively. Altogether, exports to the top five countries amounted to 41.59 per cent of total exports.

The commodity with the largest export values in the period under review was ‘petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude with N4 91 trillion, representing 77.24 per cent, followed by Natural gas, liquefied with N704.88 billion accounting for 11.08 per cent, and Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution with N160.56 billion or 2.52 per cent of total exports.

Nigeria’s agricultural imports in Q4 was valued at N444.82 billion showing a decline of 13.27 per cent and 33.33 per cent compared to N512.91 billion in Q3 and N667.16 billion in Q4 2021.

The country exported most products to Europe with goods valued at N2.79 trillion or 43.97 per cent of total exports; Asia N1.42 trillion or 22.47 per cent of total exports; America N1.15 trillion or 18.09 per cent of total exports while export to other African countries stood at N942.13 billion or 14.81 per cent of total exports of which N553.79 billion worth of goods were exported to ECOWAS countries.