Nigeria’s total imports declined by 25.83 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023 to N5.56 trillion from N7.5 trillion recorded in the first quarter of 2022.
The figure for the first quarter of this year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), was, however, higher than the N5.36 trillion recorded in the last quarter of 2022.
The NBS, in its foreign trade in goods report, said Nigeria’s total trade in the first quarter of 2023 stood at N12.05 trillion, with exports estimated at N6.49 trillion and imports valued at N5.56 trillion in the period under review.
The report also noted that “petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals and crude” constituted the largest exported communities valued at N5.15 trillion, or 79.37 percent. Natural gas and liquefied products came next with N622.36 billion, accounting for 9.59 percent of the export value.
The report noted that total exports increased in the first quarter by two percent but declined by 8.66 percent when compared with the amount recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.
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“The value of re-exports in the quarter under review stood at N32.17 billion, representing 0.5 percent of total exports.
“Data available shows that the top five re-export destinations were Cameroun, Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, the United Kingdom, and Liberia, while the most re-exported commodity was vessels and other floating structures for breaking up with N21.07 billion; this was followed by light vessels, fire floats, floating cranes, and other vessels not specified in 8,905 valued at N4.71 billion.
“Other instruments and appliances for surveying are not specified in 9015, amounting to N0.93 billion, and parts of work trucks of the type used in factories, warehouses, dock areas, or airports are valued at N0.85 billion,” it stated.
The top export destinations in the quarter were the Netherlands with N837.65 billion, or 12.91 percent; the United States with N579.35 billion, or 8.93 percent; and Spain with N488.17 billion, or 7.53 percent. France followed with N487.34 billion, or 7.51 percent, while India was fifth with N456.69 billion, or 7.04 percent, of total exports.
Exports to the top five export trading partners amounted to 43.92 percent of the total value of exports.
In terms of imports, China, the Netherlands, Belgium, India, and the U.S. were the top five countries of origin of imports to Nigeria in the first quarter of 2023. The value of imports from the top five countries amounted to N3.1 trillion, representing a share of 55.78 percent of the total value of imports, the NBS said.
(omayowa@globalfinancialdigest.com; Newsroom: +234 8033 964 138)
