By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
Nigeria recorded a trade deficit of N1.87 trillion (approx N1.9 trillion) in the second quarter of this year, the latest National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data on Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics (Q2 2021) has revealed.
This happened as the total value of imported goods from April to June exceeded the total amount of goods that left the shores of the country within this period.
The NBS said the total value of trades in the period grew 23.3 per cent to N12.03 trillion from N9.76 trillion recorded in the first quarter of the year.
When compared to the N6.37 trillion published for the second quarter of last year, the total value of foreign trades increased by 88.7 per cent.
It was stated that the total value of imported goods within the reference period was N6.95 trillion, 1.5 per cent higher than the figures in Q1 2021 and 67.5 per cent higher than Q2 2020.
In terms of imports, the stats office disclosed that imported agricultural products increased by 3.5 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter basis and rose by 56.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis.
Similarly, there was a 25.6 per cent increase in the value of raw material imported into the country compared to Q1 2021, while compared with the same period of last year, it jumped by 47.3 per cent.
However, the total value of imported manufactured goods went down by 5.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter but rose year-on-year by 54.3 per cent.
On the other hand, the total value of goods exported by the country within the period amounted to N5.08 trillion, which is lower than the import value. It also indicates a 74.7 per cent q-o-q increase and a 128.3 per cent y-o-y increase.
According to NBS, the increase was mainly due to the improvement in the export value of crude oil in the second quarter of this year as it increased by 111.3 per cent compared to Q1 2021 and 162.4 per cent compared to Q2 2020.
The value of agricultural exports also increased by 29.9 per cent as against the value recorded for the first quarter, indicating a 111.8 per cent rise compared to Q2 2020.
According to the report, Nigeria’s major import partner was China as 29.9 per cent of the goods brought into the country during this period came from the Asian giant while India remained Nigeria’s top export destination with 18.7 per cent.
