Nigeria records 4.3% drop in external trade – NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics has said the country recorded a decline of 4.3 per cent in external trade in the 2012 fiscal period.

The Bureau, in its fourth quarter 2012 trade statistics report released on Monday in Abuja, specifically said external trade dropped from N29.33tn in 2011 to N28.07tn last year.

The report, signed by the Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Yemi Kale, put the total merchandise trade for the fourth quarter of 2012 at N7.185tn.

This, it noted, represented at increase of N6.4bn or 0.1 per cent over what was recorded in the third quarter of the same year.


The NBS stated in the report, “The total value of Nigeria’s external merchandise trade for the fourth quarter of 2012 stood at N7.185tn, showing a slight increase of N6.4bn or 0.1 per cent over the previous quarter.

“At the end of 2012, Nigeria’s external trade was N 28.071tn. This was 4.3 per cent lower than the corresponding figure of N 29.333tn recorded in 2011.”

The development, it stated, arose from a sharp decrease of 43.1 per cent in the value of imports from N 9.89tn in 2011 to N5.62tn in 2012.

The report, however, said there was an increase of 15.5 per cent in the value of exports from N19.440tn in 2011 to N22.446tn in 2012.

“The increase in the value of exports contributed immensely to the visible trade balance of N16.821tn recorded in 2012. This was a contrast to the visible trade balance of N9.547tn recorded in 2011,” it added.

According to the report, the structure of import trade was still dominated by the import of machinery and transport equipment, manufactured goods and commodities, which accounted for 23.5 per cent, 12.4 per cent and 34 per cent, respectively.

It, however, listed commodities, which contributed noticeably to the fall in the value of import trade in 2012 to include beverages and tobacco, N79bn or 1.4 per cent; crude materials, N61.7bn or 1.1 per cent; mineral fuel and oils, N49.4bn or 0.9 per cent; fats and waxes, N10.9bn or 0.2 per cent.

Further analysis of the country’s imports, according the report, showed that boilers, machinery and appliances accounted for the largest share of the imports with N1.283tn or 22.8 per cent.