Nigeria imported goods worth N3.32 trillion from Asian countries in the first quarter of this year, placing the region at the top of the list of Nigerian trade partners, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Giving a breakdown, NBS said Nigerians imported motorcycles worth N117.65 billion from India and China in the first quarter of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS foreign trade statistics showed that trade with Asia countries constituted 48.45 per cent of Nigeria’s total import trade of N6.85 trillion.
According to the NBS, Asia was followed by Europe with N2.47 trillion or 36.08 per cent, America with N827.8 billion or 12.08 per cent and Africa with N183.4 billion or 2.68 per cent.
Goods traded by Nigeria with countries in Oceania ranked the least among the country’s global trade partners, accounting for N48.5 billion or 0.71 per cent of total import trade.
Out of the value recorded for Africa, import from ECOWAS countries accounted for N20.8 billion.
Nigeria’s trade with Asian countries grew from N2.56 trillion to N3.32 trillion, quarter by quarter, indicating an increase of N760 billion.
A breakdown of Nigeria’s import trade with Asia in the first quarter of 2021 shows that Nigeria imported motorcycles worth N30.98 billion and N86.67 billion from India and China, respectively.
Nigeria spent N397 billion on antibiotics and machinery for manufacturing rubber and plastic imported from India, and N75.1 billion on “machines for voice” imported from China.
Other Asian countries Nigeria imported from in the period under review were Russia, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
“Herrings (clupea haregus, clupea pallasii) was imported from Russia (N15.8 billion), machines for reception…of voice, worth N75.1 billion and N21.8 billion from China and Hong-Kong, while milk preparation worth N18.4 billion and N7.8 billion were imported from Ireland and Malaysia during the period under review,” the NBS said.
Nigeria earned only N1.32 billion from exports to Asian countries, creating a trade deficit of over N3.3 trillion.
Within this period, Nigeria exported products such as fermented cocoa beans, sesame seeds, cashew nuts, and lead ores to countries such as China, Japan, India and Malaysia.
“Top exported Agricultural products were sesamum seeds exported mainly to China (valued at N23.1 billion), Japan (N8.3 billion) and Turkey (N3 billion). This was followed by good fermented cocoa beans exported to Malaysia (N5.5 billion),” the NBS said.