The value of Nigeria’s external trade amounted to N5.341.1 trillion in the second quarter of 2013, an increase of N242.3 billion or 4.8 per cent from N5,098.9 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NSB in its Quarter Two Trade Report released over the weekend in Abuja, and endorsed by its Statistician-General, Dr. Yemi Kale, this change resulted from an increase in the value of exports from N3.452.1 trillion in the first quarter of 2013 to N3, 742.9 trillion in the second quarter, an increase of N290.8 billion or 8.4 per cent, and a 2.9 per cent decline in the value of imports from N1.646.7 trillion in the first quarter of 2013 to N1.598.2 trillion in the second quarter.
The report said that the increase in exports and decrease in imports has resulted in a favourable trade balance of N2.144.7 trillion in the second quarter, an increase of N339.3 trillion or 18.8 per cent from levels recorded in the first quarter of 2013.
Kale noted that the second quarter of the preceding year indicates that the value of the nation’s total merchandise trade decreased by N1.742.8 trillion or 24.6 per cent, while the trade balance also declined by 49.7 per cent as imports increased by 13.5 per cent, just as exports decreased by 34.1 per cent year-on-year.
The crude oil component of the total trade, according to him, stood at N2.709.4 trillion, a decrease of N321.2 billion or 10.6 per cent when compared with the previous quarter.
Year-on-year, the crude oil component recorded a 23.6 per cent decline.
“The value of the total trade for the first half of the year 2013 was N10.440.0 trillion decrease of N3266.0 or 23.8 per cent compared to N13, 706.0 billion recorded in the same period of the preceding year,” he said.
Classifying standard international trade alongside country of origin relative to import, he said that the value of Nigeria’s imports stood at N1.598.2 trillion in the second quarter of 2013, a decrease of N48.5 billion or 2.9 percent from N1. 646.7 trillion recorded in the first quarter.
In the second quarter of 2013, the value of imports increased by 13.5 per cent year-on-year.
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