Nigeria’s trade deficit widens to N1.8trn in three months

Weak demand for Nigerian products increased the trade balance deficit to N1.87 trillion in the second quarter of 2021.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated this in its “Foreign Trade Statistics – Q2 2021 obtained on Monday by Ripples Nigeria.

According to the report, Nigeria spent N6.95 trillion on imports but recorded exports worth N5.08 trillion.

What this means is that out of the N12.03 trillion trade merchandise recorded between April, May, and June, imports exceeded exports by N1.87trillion, which is the deficit.

NBS data however showed that trade recorded in the Q2 was 23.28% more than last quarter Q1 2021 and 88.71% more than the same quarter in 2020.

“During quarter 2, 2021 the total merchandise trade stood at N12,02 trillion representing 23.28% increase over the value (N9,757.87billion) recorded in Q1,2021 and 88.71% increase compared to Q2,2020,” NBS said.

Furthermore, NBS data shows that non-oil exports of N462.85 billion was recorded in the period under review. While crude oil/total exports constituted 80.29% of the transaction 42.22% was export/total trade.

“The export component of this trade was valued at N5.07 billion or 42.22% , the import was valued at N6,950.21billion or 57.78% while the trade balance stood at a deficit of N1,870.77billion.Crude oil which is the major component of export trade stood at N4,078.20 billion or 80.29% of total export. This further shows a sharp increase of 111.32% in Crude oil value in Q2, 2021 compared to (N1, 929.83billion) recorded in Q1,2021 while the Non-crude oil export recorded N1001.23 billion or 19.71% of total export trade during Q2,2021,” the report added.

For product classification, NBS said “total value of trade in agricultural goods in Q2 stood at N817.35 billion, with the export component totalling N165.27 billion while the import was valued at N652.08 billion.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s GDP increased by 0.51% in Q1 2021 – NBS

“Topmost of these exported agricultural products were good fermented Nigerian Cocoa beans exported mainly to Netherlands (N16.48 billion), Malaysia (N9.32 billion) and the United States of America (N8.41 billion).”

For Solid Minerals, trade stood at N63.68 billion, with the export component at N14.93 billion while import was valued at N48.75 billion, with the top exported mineral products being cement exported to Niger Republic and Togo in values worth N3.12 billion and N2.32 billion.

For the manufactured goods sector, the value of trade stood at N4.51 trillion representing 37.50 per cent of total trade. The export component accounted for N211.67 billion while the import component was valued at N4.29 trillion.

“The products that drove up manufactured products were vessels and other floating structures for breaking up, which was exported to Cameroon in the value worth N71.90 billion.

“Vessels and other floating structures for breaking up were also exported to Spain and Equatorial Guinea in values worth N18.34 billion and N6.26 billion.

“In terms of manufactured imports, used vehicles were mainly imported from the United States and Italy in values worth N33.78 billion and N5.74 billion,” they said.

While in terms of Raw materials total trade stood at N904.51 billion, imports at N840.50 billion while the export component stood at N64.01 billion.

Asia is the leading partner with a record of N3.46 trillion or 49.92% with Europe with N2.30 trillion or 33.16% closely following.

America with N869.1 billion, Africa, N248.8 billion and Oceania, 58.1 billion. ECOWAS countries accounted for N24.2 billion.

On goods imported during the quarter, China led with a value of N2.078 trillion, followed by India with N570.01 billion, Netherlands with N557.16 billion, and the United States with N526.92 billion.

“In terms of regional trade, Nigeria exported most products to Asia (N1.84 trillion), Europe (N1.82 trillion), America (N806.81 billion) and Africa (N584.11 billion) while Oceania totalled N23.28 billion with goods worth N363.3 billion exported to ECOWAS.

“Analysis by country export trade showed that most goods were exported to India (N949.05 billion or), Spain (N524.49 billion), Canada (N355.60 billion) and Netherlands (N298.29 billion) and United States N256.63 billion,” NBS stated.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now