The trade surplus increased by 47% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) to N1.89 trillion from N1.28 trillion reported in the second quarter (Q2), marking a slight improvement for Nigeria’s external sector in the third quarter (Q3).
Crude accounted for N8.5 trillion, or 82.5 percent, of the nation’s total exports, as was to be expected. The value of non-crude oil exports was N1.8 trillion, or 17.5% of total exports, of which N677.56 billion, or 6.6%, came from non-oil items.
Nigeria’s overall merchandise trade was estimated by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to be N18.804 trillion in its quarterly report on international trade in goods.
NBS reports that the value shows a 54.62 percent increase over the amount recorded in Q2 and a 53.16 percent increase over the value recorded in Q3 of the previous year.
With a value of N10.35 trillion, total exports accounted for 55.02 percent of all commerce in the reviewed quarter, up 60.78 percent and 74.36 percent, respectively, from the value recorded in the corresponding and preceding quarters.
Conversely, 45 percent of trade was made up of imports, which were valued at N8.46 trillion. The statistic shows an increase over the N5.73 trillion and N6.34 trillion recorded in the previous and corresponding quarters of 47.7% and 33.33 percent, respectively.
“A favorable trade balance was indicated by the Q3 2023 merchandise trade balance of ₦1.888 trillion. A notable increase in trade operations during the period was a major contributing factor to the third quarter of 2023’s export and import increases relative to the comparable and preceding quarters, the report stated.
It revealed that, for Q3, the value of re-exports was N35.95 billion, or 0.35 percent of all exports.
The top five countries for re-export were South Korea, Ghana, Gabon, Ivory Coast, and Cameroon.
According to trade partners’ analysis, Spain’s exports from Nigeria in Q3 were the highest at N1.27 trillion, or 12.31% of the nation’s overall export value. India came in second place with N1.02 trillion, or 9.81 percent.
The following three countries were the Netherlands (N988.66 billion, or 9.56 percent), Indonesia (N758.59 billion, or 7.33%), and France (N720.45 billion, or 6.96 percent).
“In all, 45.98 percent of the total value of exports was made to the top five destinations. The highest export value, however, was still “petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude” with N8.54 trillion, or 82.5 percent, in the third quarter of 2023, according to analysis by traded products. This was followed by ‘natural gas, liquefied’ with N1.016, or 9.82 percent, and “urea, whether or not in aqueous solution” with N109.68 billion, or 1.06 percent of total exports, ” the report stated.
