Exports of various types of products dominated Nigeria’s trade structure as the country’s merchandise trade hits N8.6 trillion in the second quarter of this year, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics have revealed.
The NBS in its second quarter Merchandise Trade report which was released on Thursday said the second quarter trade of N8.6tn is 4.4 per cent higher than the first quarter figure of N8.24 trillion.
The N8.6tn trade is made up of import value of N4 trillion, which represents 46.6 per cent of total trade and export of N4.59 trillion, which is about 53.4 per cent of total trade.
The report said during the period, trade balance remained favourable, valued at N588.8 billion.
It said the value of total trade was 15.43 per cent higher at half year 2019 than for the same period in 2018.
It reads in part, “In Q2, 2019, the value of Nigeria’s total trade stood at N8.6tn, comprising 46.6 per cent imports and 53.4 per cent exports.
“The value of total trade in Q2, 2019 was higher by 4.4 per cent when compared to Q1 2019, but 24.2 per cent higher when compared with Q2, 2018.
“The trade balance remained favourable, valued at N588.8bn. Combined with the Q1 2019 performance, however, the trade balance declined by 63.14 per cent relative to the same period in 2018, while the value of total trade was 15.43 per cent higher at half year 2019 than for the same period in 2018.”
The report stated that in the second quarter, crude oil remained the major export as it accounted for N3.93tn or 85.6 per cent of total exports while non-crude oil exports contributed N661.6bn or 14.37 per cent.
On a year on year basis, the report stated that the value of crude oil exports was 4.4 per cent higher in the second quarter in the second quarter of 2018.
However, it said excluding all oil-related commodity exports, the value of non-oil exports rose by 4.1 per cent in the second quarter.
The NBS report stated that the value of imported agricultural products was 5.79 per cent higher in the second quarter than the first quarter.
For raw materials imports, it said this grew 4.97 per cent over the value recorded in the first quarter, while the value of Solid minerals imports was 63.46 per cent higher than in the first quarter.
The report stated that China continues to dominate Nigeria’s import accounting for 25.47 per cent of imported goods.
This is followed by imports from the United States with 10.53 per cent, Netherlands 9.33 per cent, India 7.48 per cent and Belgium 6.21 per cent.