Non-oil exports from Nigeria rose by the most on record to hit a trillion Naira-mark for the first time in a quarter in Q3 2019, pushing trade surplus to a five-quarter high.
Trade surplus or net trade is the difference between what a country exports and what it imports. A positive trade balance is a plus for GDP i.e the country is a net producer in the global market.
In the third quarter of 2019, non-oil exports grew 375 percent, the highest since according to available data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which dates back to the second quarter of 2014 for non-oil exports.
Non-oil exports hit N1.08trn for the first time on record accounting for 20 percent of total exports and pushing net-exports to N1.39trn, the highest since the second quarter of 2018.
Total trade hit N9.19trn in the third quarter, up 6.77 percent on a quarterly basis and 1.33 on an annual basis.
The value of total imports decreased 2.70 percent in the third quarter compared to Q2,2019, and 7.47 percent relative to the corresponding quarter of 2018 while the value of total exports in Q3, 2019 increased by 15.02 percent on a quarterly basis and 8.97 percent year-on-year.
