Nigeria’s total merchandise trade value rose to N11,707.20 billion in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2021, representing 11.79 percent higher than the value recorded in Q3, 2021, totalling N10,472.42 billion.
Briefing journalists on the key highlights of the merchandise trade in the quarter under review at the ‘Statistics House’ in Abuja, the Statistician General of the Federation and NBS’ CEO, Dr. Simon Harry, disclosed that more recently, there had been a harmonisation of trade data between the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), which led to the revision of the 2020 and January-September 2021 trade numbers.
Following the harmonization, he explained that a revised methodology based on International Merchandise Trade Statistics (IMTS 2010) Manual, the use of investor-exporters window for exchange rate and updated data sets from NBS data sources were adopted.
The Statistician General further reported that in the quarter under review, exports trade value rose to N5,766.62 billion while imports trade value totalled N5,940.58 billion. This reflected a negative trade balance of N173.96 billion.
The figures also indicated that export trade grew by 12.27 percent from N5,136.56 billion while import trade grew by 11.33 percent from N5,335.86 billion in Q3 2021.
According to him, in terms of exports, Nigerian export trade was mainly dominated by crude oil, which amounted to N4,269.36 billion (74.04 percent) of total exports during the fourth quarter of 2021 followed by Natural gas, liquefied with N573.85 billion (9.95 percent); Floating or submersible drilling platforms with N 265.33 billion (4.60 percent) and Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution with N208.05 billion (3.61 percent).
Harry explained that on the other hand, major products imported were motor spirit, valued at N1,443.91 billion (24.31 percent), followed by durum wheat, valued at N397.19 billion (6.69 percent), and Rolled iron/steal, others with N88.23 billion (1.49 percent).
He also reported that the top five major trading partners in exports during the quarter under review were India, with N874.86 billion (15.17 percent); Spain, with N789.23 billion (13.69 percent); France, with N485.35 billion (8.42 percent); The Netherlands, with N425.85 billion (7.38 percent); and Indonesia, with N288.10 billion (5.00 percent).
The NBS’ CEO also clarified that Nigeria’s top import trading partners during the period under review were China, with N1,652.65 billion (27.82 percent); Belgium, with N613.28 billion (10.32 percent), India, with N430.38 billion (7.24 percent), The Netherlands, with N416.52 billion (7.01 percent) and the United States of America, with N40.36billion (5.73 percent).
The Statistician General further said that when analyzed on sectoral classifications, crude oil accounted for 74.04 percent of total exports during the period under review, followed by Other Petroleum Oil Products with 11.90 percent.
Similarly, he reported that in terms of imports, 50.51 percent of Nigeria’s imports were manufactured goods, followed by Other Petroleum Oil Products with 28.60 percent.
