[2015 Q1] Nigeria’s export exceed import by N1.58 trillion

The National Bureau of Statistics has announced that Nigeria’s total export was N1.58 trillion higher than import for the first quarter of 2015. This was contained in their first quarter foreign trade report released on Tuesday.

The total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade at the end of Quarter One, 2015, stood at ₦4,875.4billion. From the preceding quarter value of ₦4,985.6billion, this was ₦110.2billion or 2.2% less. Despite a rise of ₦275.6billion or 9.3% in the value of exports against levels recorded in the preceding quarter, a decline of ₦385.8billion or 19.0% in the value of imports resulted in an overall decline in the value of merchandise trade. The rise in exports and decline imports improved the Country’s trade balance however, which increased by 71.6% from the preceding quarter, to ₦1,584.9billion (Table1). In comparison with the corresponding quarter of 2014, the value of total merchandise trade decreased by ₦639.5billion or 11.6%, while the trade balance decreased by ₦839.1 billion or 34.6% .

The structure of Nigeria’s imports classified by Section revealed that imports of “Boilers, Machinery and Appliances” dominated, accounting for 27.7% of the total value of imports in Q1, 2015 (Table 2). Other commodities which contributed considerably to the value of imports in the review period were “Mineral Products” (13.1%), “Base Metals and Articles of Base Metals” (10.2%), “Vehicles, Aircraft and Associated Parts” (9.6%), and “Products of the Chemical and Allied Industries” (8.7%).  The key drivers of the year on year growth were “Boilers, Machinery and Appliances” and “Vegetable Products”, which increased by ₦88.7billion or 24.2% and by ₦33.8billion or 47.6% from Q1 of 2014 values respectively.

Get the report here