Nigeria’s total merchandise trade dropped by N1.24 trillion, that is from N12.84 trillion in the second quarter of 2022 to N11.59 trillion in the third quarter of 2022.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) gave the figure in its recently released Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics (Q3 2022).
It attributed the decline in foreign trade to the decline in crude oil exports, which fell from N5.91 trillion in Q2 2022 to N4.66 trillion in Q3 2022.
According to the report, “In Q3 2022, Nigeria’s total trade stood at N11.59tn, this was lower than the value recorded in the second quarter of 2022 (N12.84tn) but was higher than the value recorded in the corresponding period of 2021 which stood at N10.47tn.
“Total Exports stood at N5.93tn of which Re-exports were N25.04bn, while total imports stood at N5.66tn. In the quarter under review, total exports declined by 19.89 per cent when compared to the second quarter of 2022 (N7.41tn) but it increased by 15.52 per cent of the value recorded in the third quarter of 2021 (N5.14tn).”
The report further indicated that total imports increased by 4.22 per cent in the third quarter of 2022 when compared to the value recorded in the second quarter of 2022 (N5.44tn) and also grew by 6.16 per cent when compared to the value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021 (N5.34tn).
It listed the top five export destinations in the period as: Spain, India, France, the Netherlands, and Indonesia, while the top five countries for imports were: China, The Netherlands, India, Belgium, and the United States of America.
Sea transportation was the major route through which a majority of the commodities were exported, with maritime accounting for N5.87 trillion or 98.88 per cent of total exports.
