Nigeria’s foreign trade deficit widened to N1.94 trillion in 2021 compared to a deficit of N178.3 billion recorded in 2020 as the cost of importing commodities exceeded the value of its export.
According to the recently released report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Foreign trade grew 58 percent to N39.8 trillion in 2021 from N25.2 trillion the previous year.
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Africa’s biggest economy imported N20.8 trillion worth of goods in 2021, 64 percent higher than N12.7 trillion recorded in the previous year. On the other hand, exports jumped 51 percent to N18.9 trillion.
Deficit hit N173.96 billion in Q4 2021
The deficit hit N173.96 billion in fourth quarter.
According to the data, for Q4, the total trade was valued at N11.707 trillion, of which the value of total imports stood at N5.940 trillion and total exports at N5.766 trillion.
The report showed that the total trade in Q4, 2021 was 11.79 percent higher when compared to the value recorded in Q3, 2021 and 74.71 percent higher compared to the value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2020.
With N3.94 trillion, N1.87 trillion and N3.03 trillion respectively, Nigeria recorded a negative balance of trade during the first, second and third quarters of 2021.
According to the report, Nigerian export trade valued at N5.766 trillion was mainly dominated by crude oil which amounted to N4.269 trillion representing 74.04 percent of total exports during the fourth quarter of 2021.
This was followed by Natural gas, liquefied with N573.85 billion, floating or submersible drilling platforms with N 265.33 billion and Urea, whether or not in aqueous solution with N208.05 billion .
On the other hand, major products imported were Motor spirit, valued at N1.443 trillion followed by Durum wheat, valued at N397.19 billion and Rolled iron/steal, others with N88.23 billion.
It further showed that the top five major trading partners in exports during the 4th Quarter, 2021 were India with ₦874.86 billion, Spain with ₦789.23 billion, France with ₦485.35 billion, Netherlands with ₦425.85 billion and Indonesia with ₦288.10 billion.
Similarly, the top import trading partners during the period under review were China with ₦1.65 trillion, Belgium with ₦613.28 billion, India with ₦430.38 billion, the Netherlands with 416.52 billion and the United States of America with ₦340.36billion.
In addition, looking at sectoral classifications, 74.04 percent of total exports during the period under review was Crude oil, followed by Other Petroleum Oil Products with 11.90 percent. In terms of imports, 50.51percent were manufactured goods, followed by Other Petroleum Oil products with 28.60 percent.
