By Oludare Mayowa
The total value of Nigeria trade stood at N6.24 trillion in the second quarter of 2020, indicating a sharp fall of 27.30 percent when compared with the value of trade in the first quarter of the year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.
However, Nigeria continued to suffer trade imbalance and record external trade imbalance with her trade partners with the dependence on crude oil as the main export commodity with the value of imports outpaced the value exports.
For instance, Nigeria imported total goods and services worth N4.02 trillion in the second quarter of the year but export only goods and services worth N2.22 trillion in the same period, resulting in external trade deficit of N1.8 trillion.
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“Consequently, the trade balance recorded a deficit of N1,803.3billion, marking the third consecutive quarter of negative trade balance.
“This compares with trade in goods deficit of N421.3 billion recorded in Q1, 2020 and N579.06billion recorded in Q4 2019,” the NBS said.
Nigeria exports value declined by 45.64 percent against the value recorded in the first quarter of the year, according to the NBS latest data.
“The value of total trade year to date amounted to N14,829.4billion, indicating a drop of 11.96 percent compared to half year 2019,” NBS said.
Nigeria’s total imports fell by 10.69 percent in the second quarter of 2020, compared with the total volume of import in the first quarter,
Imports of energy goods increased tremendously by 591.47 percent in the first quarter, Manufactured goods imports increased in value by 4.69 percent and imported Agricultural goods rose in value by 59.01 percent, according to the NBS data.
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Raw material imports increased by 85.69 percent, Solid minerals imports increased in value by 35.51 percent while Other oil products imports decreased by 82.32 percent in the period.
Total exports was 45.64 percent lower in the second quarter compared with the figure posted in the first quarter of the year.
Raw material goods export recorded a decrease of 56.2 percent in Q2,2020 compared to Q1, 2020 and 52.4 percent compared with the same quarter in 2019.
The period fell within the period of lockdown imposed by government to contain the spread of coronavirus and the diruption of global supply chain.
Also, the impact of the sharp drop in global demand for crude oil, Nigeria’s major export commodity would have impacted the trade balance for the period.#GFD
