By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria’s total foreign trade, which accounts for both import and export, dropped 18 percent (quarter-on-quarter) in the first quarter of 2020 to N8.3 trillion compared to N10.1 trillion in the fourth quarter 2019.
This was disclosed in the latest foreign trade report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Tuesday.
According to the report, the year-on-year total foreign trade increased by 0.8 percent from N8.2 trillion in Q1 2019 to N8.3 trillion in Q1 2020, reflecting the early effects of disruption caused by COVID-19 pandemic which started in March.
Total import for the period stood at N4.22 trillion while total export was N4.08 trillion indicating a negative trade balance of N138.99 billion.
The value of total imports decreased by 21.08 percent in Q1, 2020 compared to the value recorded in Q4 2019 but was 13.9 percent higher when compared with Q1, 2019.
According to the report, crude oil export dropped by 18.9 percent in Q1 2020 to N2.9 compared to N3.63 trillion recorded in Q4 2019.
Non-crude oil export also reduced, although marginally by 0.27 percent to N1.14 trillion as against N1.14 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter Q4 2019.
Exported agricultural goods stood at N126.35 billion in Q1 2020, indicating 85.4 percent increase compared to N68.2 billion recorded in Q4 2019.
According to the report, the majorly traded agricultural products include; Sesamum seeds, Good fermented cocoa beans, superior quality raw cocoa beans, Natural cocoa butter, Cashew nuts, Ginger among others.
Another booming sector which the country is banking on to diversify – manufacturing, showed that goods exports decreased by 12.7 percent in value in the first quarter 2020 compared to Q4 2019.
In terms of destination, Nigeria exported goods majorly to India, Spain, Netherlands, South Africa and Cameroon while major import sources include China, Netherlands, United States, India and Belgium.
India accounted for 15.6 percent to N637.5 billion of the total value of exported goods by region, followed by Spain which accounted for 9.9 percent to N402.9 billion of our total exports between January and March 2020.
In terms of import, Nigeria imported goods valued at N1.11 trillion from China, accounting for 26.3 percent of the total value of exported items in the first quarter of 2020 followed by the Netherlands, which accounted for 11.1 percent amounting to N470.11 billion of the total export.
Also, imports from African countries stood at N118.9 billion in Q1 2020, representing 2.8 percent of Nigeria’s total import between January and March 2020.
Dipo Olowookere