Nigeria’s Trade Balance Improves as Imports Fall

By Adedapo Adesanya

Analysis of Nigeria’s total merchandise trade shows that the country recorded an improved trade balance between April and June 2022.

A nation has a trade surplus if its exports are greater than its imports; and in Nigeria’s case, the imports are mainly higher than exports, meaning that the nation has a trade deficit.

However, the country’s total merchandise trade dropped by 1.2 per cent to N12.8 trillion in the second quarter of 2022 from N13.0 trillion in the first quarter of the year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Report for Q2 2022.

The report, released in Abuja last Thursday, however, showed it was higher than the value recorded in the corresponding period of 2021 which stood at N9.7 trillion.

Business Post understands that Nigeria’s merchandise trade slightly fell in the period under review due to a decline in import trade resulting in an improved trade balance.

The NBS said the total export trade was N7.4 trillion in Q2 2022, showing a rise of 4.31 per cent when compared to Q1 2022 which stood at N7.1 trillion.

The total exports trade for Q2 2022 also increased by 47.6 per cent of the value recorded in the second quarter of 2021 at N5.0 trillion.”

On the other hand, total imports stood at N5.4 trillion in Q2 2022, indicating a decrease of 7.9 per cent over the value recorded in Q1 2022, at N5.9 trillion.

However, the value increased by 15.8 per cent when compared to the value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021 at N4.7 trillion.

The report said that Re-Exports stood at N9.63 billion in Q2 2022.

The value decreased when compared to the same quarter of 2021 at N64.39 billion and also Q1 2022 at N115.80 billion by 85.1 per cent and 91.7 per cent, respectively, it noted.

The report said the value of exports trade in Q2 2022 was dominated by crude oil exports valued at N5.9 trillion which accounted for 79.8 per cent of total exports.

While non-crude oil exports value stood at N1.5 trillion or 20.2 per cent of total exports of which non-oil products contributed N675.08 billion representing 9.1 per cent of total exports.”

The report said in the quarter under review, the top five re-export destinations included Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Cameroon, and Turkey.