The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report on Tuesday has shown that Nigeria merchandise trade statistics for the second quarter of this year recorded a 49 per cent increase in trade from N2.65 trillion in the first quarter to N3.94 trillion.
The bureau in the report made available to our correspondent stated that the increase in trade was as a result of a rise of N725.6 billion in the value of imports against what was recorded in the preceding quarter.
It said as a result of the improvement in second quarter trade, the country’s negative trade balance has now reduced by N154.8 billion to N196.5 billion.
The report stated, “The total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade in Q2, 2016 was ₦3.94 trillion. This was 49 per cent more than the value of ₦2.64 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter.
“This development arose from a rise of ₦725.6 billion or 63.3 per cent in the value of exports (largely due to exchange rate gains) combined with a rise of ₦570.8 billion or 38.1 per cent in the value of imports against the levels recorded in the preceding quarter.
“The current trade position brought the Country’s negative trade balance to – ₦196.5 billion during the period under review. This shows a ₦154.8 billion reduction in the country’s trade deficit over the previous quarter.”
In terms of the structure of Nigeria’s trade, the report stated that the country’s import stood at N2.06 trillion at the end of the second quarter, representing an increase of 38.1 per cent from the value ₦1.9 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter.
As with exports, it said the increase in import value could be traced to a decline in the value of the naira.
It said capital goods and parts with ₦663.6 billion or 32.1 per cent accounted for the highest chunk of the country’s import.
This was followed by industrial supplies with N421.2 billion or 20.4 per cent, and transport equipments and part with ₦356.1 billion or 17.2 per cent.
It said Nigeria’s import trade by direction showed that the country imported goods mostly from China, Netherlands, United States, India and the United Kingdom.
Trade with these countries accounted for ₦493.5 billion or 23.9 per cent, N285.7 billion or 13.8 per cent, N199 billion or 9.6 per cent, N124.9 billion or six per cent and ₦119.3 billion or 5.8 per cent of the total value of goods imported during the quarter.
For export trade, the report put the value of the export trade, at ₦1.87 trillion in the second quarter indicating an increase of ₦725.6 billion or 63.3 per cent over the value recorded in the preceding quarter.
“The improvement in export value is largely due to the depreciation in the value of the naira,” it added.
The structure of the export trade, the report added, is still dominated by crude oil exports, which contributed ₦1.49 trillion or 79.7 per cent to the value of total domestic export trade in 2016.
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