The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) quoted Nigeria’s total merchandise trade from April to June 2022 to be N12,841.54 billion. The NBS report noted that this figure is a decline from the N13,001.28 billion traded in the first quarter of the year.
What’s more
Also, while total export trade was N7,406.53 billion in Q2 2022, imports trade for the period under review was N5,435.01 billion.
- Total export trade showed a rise of 4.31 percent when compared to Q1 2022. Imports, on the other hand, decreased by 7.89 percent in comparison with the value recorded in Q1 2022.
- Crude oil dominated Nigeria’s total export trade by representing 79.77 percent of total exports at a value of N5,907.97 billion.
- On the other hand, non-oil exports value stood at N1,498.56 billion or 20.23 per cent of total exports.
Why it matters
The about N2 billion difference in Nigeria’s import and export trade shows that the country highly depends on imports rather than exports, therefore classifying the country as a trade deficit nation. The implication of this is that Nigeria depends on other countries’ economic power. Hence the high inflation rate, depreciating foreign reserves, and much more.