Despite Recession, Nigeria’s Trade, Export Rise By 49%

The total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade in the second quarter of 2016 has risen to ₦3,942.0 billion, National Bureau of Statistics, NBS said Tuesday. The figure represent was 49.0% more than the value of trade in the first quarter which stood at ₦2,645.5 billion.

The NBS stated that the development is due to increase in the Nigerian exports According to NBS report, this development arose from a rise of ₦725.6 billion (63.3%) in the value of exports (largely due to exchange rate gains) combined with a rise of ₦570.8 billion or 38.1%, in the value of imports against the levels recorded in the preceding quarter.

“The current trade position brought the Country’s negative trade balance to – ₦196.5 billion during the period under review. This shows a ₦154.8 billion reduction in the country’s trade deficit over the previous quarter, the report said.

The report stated that the country’s import stood at N2.06tn at the end of the second quarter, representing an increase of 38.1 per cent from the value ₦1.9tn recorded in the preceding quarter. As with exports, it said the increase in import value could be traced to a decline in the value of the naira.

It said capital goods and parts with ₦663.6bn or 32.1 per cent is responsible for the highest chunk of the country’s import.

It said Nigeria’s import trade by direction showed that the country imported goods mostly from China, Netherlands, United States, India and the United Kingdom. For export trade, the report put the value of the export trade, at ₦1.87tn in the second quarter indicating an increase of ₦725.6bn or 63.3 per cent over the value recorded in the preceding quarter.

“The improvement in export value is largely due to the depreciation in the value of the naira,” it added. The structure of the export trade, the report added, is still dominated by crude oil exports, which contributed ₦1.49tn or 79.7 per cent to the value of total domestic export trade in 2016.