Nigeria’s total merchandise trade rose by 6.99% to N9.757 trillion in the first quarter of 2021.
This was disclosed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) after its “Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics – Q1, 2021” was released over the weekend.
The NBS revealed that the value was a 14.13% rise compared to the value recorded in Q1, 2020. Export trade for the period was N2.907 trillion, representing 29.79% of the total trade, while import was valued at N6.850 trillion, representing 70.21%.
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What they said
“The value of raw material imports fell by 6.50% in Q1 compared to Q4, 2020, but increased by 109.29 per cent compared to Q1, 2020. The value of solid minerals imports was 36.97%, higher in Q1 than in Q4, 2020 and 59.26% more than its value in Q1, 2020.
The value of energy goods imports was 34.39% in Q1, higher than in Q4, 2020 and 1,346.72% higher than the value recorded in Q1, 2020.”
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For exports
“The value of raw material goods exports in Q1, was 9.0 per cent lower than the value in Q4, 2020 and 6.7 per cent lower than the value recorded in Q1, 2020.
The value of solid minerals exports increased by 107.2 per cent in Q1, against Q4 2020 and 481.7 per cent against the corresponding quarter in 2020.
The export of energy goods increased in value by 16.3 per cent in Q1 compared to Q4 2020 and 18.1 per cent compared to Q1, 2020,” NBS said.
What you should know
Nigeria’s total trade sector contracted by 2.43% in real terms in the first quarter of 2021, according to the recently published GDP report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).