Nigeria’s foreign trade surges 53% as crude oil revenues boom-NBS

Nigeria’s foreign trade increased to N 18.80tn in the third quarter of 2023, up 53.16 percent year over year.

This comes as the income from crude oil increased by 83.23 percent to N8.54 trillion during the reviewed quarter. The entire quantity of crude oil sold in the third quarter of 2022 was N4.66 trillion.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) “Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics (Q3 2023)” report states that overall exports rose by 60.78 percent to N10.35tn during the quarter, helped by a rise in trade activity.

A portion of the report, which was made public on Monday, stated that in Q3, 2023, Nigeria’s total goods trade was N18.80 trillion. The number shows a 53.16 percent rise over the amount reported in Q2, 2023, and a 54.62 percent increase.

In the reviewed quarter, total exports comprised 55.02 percent of total commerce, valued at N10.35 trillion, an increase of 60.78 percent and 74.36 percent, respectively, over the amount recorded in the corresponding and previous quarters.

“The value of non-crude oil exports stood at N1.81tn, accounting for 17.50 percent of total exports; of which non-oil products contributed N677.57bn or 6.55 percent of total exports.

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In the third quarter of 2023, export trade was dominated by crude oil exports, valued at N8,535.61 billion, representing 82.50 percent of total exports.

The trade balance of the nation was N1.89 trillion. According to the statistics authority, Nigeria’s top export destinations were Spain N1.27 trillion, India (N1.02 trillion), The Netherlands N988.66 billion, Indonesia (N758.59 billion), and France (N720.45). 45.98 percent of the total value of exports was made up of goods to the top five destinations.

China (N1.97 trillion), Belgium (N996.65 billion), India (N802.07 billion), Malta (N561.37 billion), and the United States of America (N502.92 billion) accounted for the majority of the nation’s imports (N4.84 trillion, or 57.18 percent) of all imports.

According to the NBS, the highest export value in the third quarter of 2023 was still “Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude,” with N8.54 trillion representing 82.50 percent of total exports. This was followed by “Natural gas, liquefied,” which had N1.02 trillion representing 9.82 percent, and “Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution,” which had N109.68 billion or 1.06 percent of total exports.

Regarding imports, it said, “Motor Spirit Ordinary, valued at N1.92 trillion or 22.71 percent, Gas oil, valued at N736.66 billion or 8.71 percent, and Durum wheat (not in seeds), valued at N331.76 billion or 3.92 percent of total imports, were the commodities with the largest values of imported products.”

The World Bank has observed that the nation’s oil production is still relatively low. According to a recent article by The PUNCH, in September 2023, the nation’s crude oil output increased to 1.35 million barrels per day.

In another report, oil output increased to almost 1.7 million barrels per day. “A substantial part of our forex comes from the oil sector,” Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources said. Therefore, my goal is to figure out how to steer the industry towards higher output and increased income to finance important national initiatives.

“We have already started to increase output gradually. It was around 1.1 mbpd in August, but as of right now, it’s up to 1.3 mbpd, not counting condensates; if you count condensates, it’s closer to 1.7 mbpd.”