Nigeria’s foreign trade rises 14.3% in first quarter

Nigeria’s total foreign trade rose to N9.8 trillion in the first quarter of 2021 as the country recorded increases in both exports and imports, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.

The figure represents a 6.99 per cent increase over the value recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 14.13 per cent compared to the first quarter of the same year.

The Bureau disclosed this in its “Foreign Trade Goods Statistics Q1 2021” published on its website on Friday.

The NBS said the export component of trade stood at N2.9 billion, representing 29.79 per cent of the total trade while import was valued at N6.9 billion representing 70.21 per cent.

“The higher level of imports over exports resulted in a trade deficit in goods of -N3,943.45 billion.

“The value of Crude oil export stood at N1,929.83 billion representing 66.38 per cent of the total export recorded in Q1, 2021, while non-crude oil export accounted for 33.62 per cent of the total export,” it said.

Categorising the imported goods, the report said that the value of total imports rose by 15.61 per cent in Q1, 2021 compared to Q4, 2020 and 54.30 per cent compared to Q1, 2020.

“The value of imported agricultural products was 18.37 per cent higher in Q1, 2021 than in Q4, 2020 and 140.47 per cent higher year on year.

“The value of Raw material imports fell by 6.50 per cent in Q1, 2021 compared to Q4, 2020 but increased

by 109.29 per cent compared to Q1, 2020,” it said.

The NBS said the value of solid minerals imports was 36.97 per cent higher in Q1, 2021 than in Q4, 2020 and 59.26 per cent more than its value in Q1, 2020.

“The value of Energy goods imports was 34.39 per cent in Q1, 2021 higher than in Q4,2020 and 1,346.72 per cent higher than the value recorded in Q1, 2020.

It added that the value of imported manufactured goods grew by 18.47 per cent in Q1, 2021 against the value recorded in Q4, 2020 and 69.70 per cent against its value in Q1, 2020.

“The value of other oil products imported in Q1, 2021 was 19.02 per cent more than its value in Q4, 2020

but 15.76 per cent less than the corresponding quarter of 2020,” it said.

As for exports, the value of agricultural exports increased by 128.0 per cent in Q1 2021 compared to Q4 2020 and 0.1 per cent compared to Q1 2020.

It added that the value of raw material goods exports in Q1, 2021 was 9.0 per cent lower than the value in Q4,2020 and 6.7 per cent lower than the value recorded in Q1 2020.

“The value of solid minerals exports increased by 107.2 per cent in Q1,2021 against Q4 2020 and 481.7 per cent against the corresponding quarter in 2020.

Also, energy goods increased in value by 16.3 per cent in Q1 2021 compared to Q4 2020 and 18.1 per cent compared to Q1,2020

“Manufactured goods exports rose by 94.0 per cent in Q1 2021 compared to Q4 2020 but decreased by 43.7 per cent compared to Q1, 2020.

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“Crude oil exports in Q1 2021 decreased by 23.5 per cent compared to Q4,2020 and 34.5 per cent compared to Q1,2020.”

According to the report, Nigeria’s imports by country of origin showed that the majority of the goods imported during the quarter originated from China, valued at N2,009.94 billion or 29.34 per cent.

“This was followed by the Netherlands (N726.09 billion or 10.60 per cent), the United States (N608.12 or 8.88 per cent ), and others,” it said.

For export, Nigeria exported mainly mineral products, valued at 2,486.1 billion or 85.52 per cent of the total export value.

“This was followed by Vehicles, Aircraft, and parts (N180.5 billion or 6.21 per cent) and vegetable products (N82.3 billion or 2.83 per cent).

In terms of regional trade, Nigeria exported most products to Asia (N1,132.55 billion), Europe (N997.79 billion), America (N316.62 billion), and Africa (N449.84 billion).

“During the quarter goods worth N282.2 billion were exported to ECOWAS.

“By country, most goods were exported to India (N488.1 billion or 16.8 per cent), Spain (N287.2billion or 9.9 per cent, China (N190.1 billion or 6.5 per cent) and the Netherlands (N160.billion or 5.5 per cent),” it said.