A total of 181,404 vehicles were imported into Nigeria in 2017 at all the ports, this accounts for a 72.4 percent increase from 105,189 recorded in the previous year.
Last year’s number of imported vehicles is close to the recorded 247,932 in 2014, as compiled from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report on the Nigeria port which covered 2012-2015.
The imported vehicles in the period under review were; 269,386 in 2012, 280,226 in 2013, 247,932 in 2014, 131,994 in 2015, 105,189 in 2016 and 181,404 last year.
Analysis by BusinessDay revealed that the pickup in the number of vehicles imported in the country was due to the positive economic trajectory of Africa’s largest economy upon its emergence from its five consecutive quarters of negative growth, which was a s a result of slum in oil prices and the activities of the Niger Delta militants on the oil pipeline- resulting to a decline in the level of oil production.
The lowest number of imported vehicle in the 5 years period was recorded in 2016 at 105,189, this was the same period when the country was deep in recession and the tariff increment in vehicle importation was enacted by the government.
The government implemented the 70 percent tariff on imported new vehicles and 35 percent on used vehicles in 2016, although the industry stakeholders as at the time were of the opinion that high import tariffs on imported used and new vehicles was the reason while they resulted to importing vehicles through land borders.
Although the government in December 2016 placed a ban on importation of vehicles through the land borders citing loss of revenue. The ban as at the time affected the operations of vehicle importers who had seen different models of their vehicles imported into the country through illegal routes but was impounded.
A breakdown of the Nigeria Port Statistics report revealed that Tin Can Island port recorded the highest number of imported vehicle at 180,753 followed by Apapa port with a total record of 507, Rivers and Oone ports had 141 and 3 vehicles imported through them respectively
