Nigeria records N1.389trn trade surplus in 3 months ― NBS

Value of Nigeria’s total trade rose 6.8 per cent to N9,187.6billion in the third quarter of 2019 compared to the previous quarter according to details released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Friday.

Export component amounting to N5.288 trillion was an increase of 15.02 per cent against Q2, 2019 and 8.97 per cent when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2018.

On the other hand, the import component valued at N3.899 trillion represented a decrease of 2.70 per cent in Q3 against Q2, 2019 and 7.47 per cent against Q3, 2018.

According to NBS, the increase in exports coupled with the decrease in imports led to a positive trade balance of N1,389 trillion during the period under review.

With a value of N3.747 trillion, crude oil remained the dominant export commodity accounting for 70.87 per cent of the value of total export, while non-crude oil exports amounted to 29.13 per cent at N1.540 trillion.

Despite that, however, in Q3, 2019, the value of crude oil exports was 4.7 per cent lower than in Q2, 2019 and 9.6 per cent lower than the corresponding quarter of 2018.

Other major imports originated from Europe, valued at N1,194.2billion or 30.6 per cent while imports from the Americas and Africa amounted to N576.7billion or 14.8 per cent and N106.0billion or 2.7 per cent respectively.

Exports by section revealed that mineral products accounted for the largest proportion of exports, amounting to N4.220 trillion or 79.8 per cent.

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Nigeria exported most products to Europe at a value of N1.861 trillion or 35%, followed by Africa at N1.459.7 trillion or 27.6 per cent, Asia at N1.361 trillion or 25.74 per cent, America at N598.3billion or 11.3 per cent and Oceania at N8.1billion or 0.1 per cent.

Within Africa, exports to ECOWAS member states was worth N1.140 trillion or 21.56 per cent of total exports.
The country’s total agricultural goods stood at N282.0 billion, out of which exported agricultural goods accounted for N42.1billion or 14.9 per cent.

Imported agricultural products, on the other hand, accounted for N239.9billion or 85.1 per cent of total agricultural trade in Q3, 2019.

Nigeria also imported solid mineral products worth N19.9 billion while exporting N6.3 billion worth of derivatives of solid minerals.

The total value of trade in manufactured goods in Q3, 2019 stood at N3.776 trillion or 41.1 per cent of total trade.

“Export component accounted for N996.8 billion, an increase of 839.44 per cent over the value recorded in Q2, 2019” and “was driven by export of Cable sheaths of Iron and steel valued at N750.3billion which was exported to Ghana.”

Used Vehicles worth N120.6 billion was imported from the United States, Italy (N6.3 billion), Belgium (N4.3billion), Germany (N3.9 billion) and Canada (N3.9 billion).