Nigeria’s trade deficit rises 62% to N3trn in Q3 2021

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s foreign trade rose 62 percent to record N3.03 trillion deficit in the third quarter of 2021.

This is higher than the N1.87 trillion trade deficit recorded in the second quarter of the year.

The NBS stated this in its report titled: “Foreign trade in goods statistics (Q1 – Q3 2021),” released on Monday.

According to the report, the country’s total foreign trade rose to N13.3 trillion, comprising N8.2 trillion imports and N5.1 trillion exports within the period.

A trade deficit occurs when a country’s imports exceed its exports during a given period. It is also referred to as a negative balance of trade.

In the last nine months, the country has recorded N8.9 trillion trade deficit, surpassing 2020 figures when imports exceeded exports by N7.37 trillion.

In the first quarter of 2021, Nigeria’s trade deficit in goods was N3.94 trillion.

Between January and September 2021, the country’s total foreign trade stood at N35.09 trillion — with imports pegging at N22 trillion and export at N13.1 trillion.

In the first quarter of 2021, Nigeria’s trade deficit in goods was N3.94 trillion.

Also, in the second quarter of the year, exports jumped to N5.08 trillion against imports of N6.95 trillion, resulting in N1.87 trillion trade deficit.

The NBS data showed that the value of imports and exports in Q2 brought total merchandise trade to N12.03 trillion, representing a 23.28 percent increase from the N9.7 trillion recorded in Q1.

According to the NBS, crude oil, which is the major component of export trade, stood at N4.08 trillion (80.29 percent) of total export.

The report further stated that crude oil value had a sharp increase of 111.32 percent in Q2 compared to the N1.93 trillion recorded in Q1 2021, while the non-crude oil goods recorded N1 trillion (19.71 percent) of total export trade during Q2 2021.

Simon Harry, statistician-general of the federation, said when comparing Q3 to Q2 of 2021, total trade grew by 10.43 percent from N12,029.64 billion, export trade grew by 1 percent from N5,079.44 billion, import trade also grew by 17.32 percent from N6,950.21 billion.

“In terms of exports, Nigerian Export trade was mainly dominated by crude Oil which amounted to N4trillion(78.47 percent) of total export in the third quarter,” he said.

“This was followed by Natural gas, liquefied with 487.49billion(9.50 Percent), floating of submersible drilling platforms with N163.70billion(3.19 percent), and Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution with 107.17billion (2.08 percent).

“On the other hand, imports were mainly motor spirit valued at N1.1trillion(12.91 percent), Dur wheat valued at 315.17billiom(3.87 percent), Gas Oil with N225.63billion(2.77 percent), Used Vehicles N185.41billion(2.27 percent).”

The report further stated that in terms of trading partners, the top five major trading partners in export trade during the third quarter were India with N758.1billion, Spain with N627.01 billion, Italy with N446.04 billion, France with N363.23 billion, and Netherlands with N242.49 billion.

Similarly, the top import trading partners in the period under review were China with N2,441.79billion, India with 710.35billion, United States with 599.12billion, the Netherlands with N554 billion, and Belgium with N434.12 billion.