The recently released foreign trade statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows how Nigeria performed in third quarter of the year.

Here are some highlights from the report.

Trade deficit widens to N2.38trn, highest since 2017

In the third quarter of 2020, Africa’s biggest economy saw its trade deficit surge by 32.45 percent to N2.38 trillion from N1.8 trillion in the second quarter, and down from a surplus of N1.38 trillion in Q3’2019.

The trade deficit is the widest the country has had since 2017 as import outpaced export.

Import hit N5.38 trillion in Q3’20, up from N3.89 trillion in Q3’19. Also, export declined to N2.9 trillion in the third quarter, down from N5.38 trillion in Q3’19.

Diversification still slow as oil contributes 81% to exports

Efforts to diversify the export base of the economy to boost non-oil earning over the years has been slow and has yielded little gains.

Crude oil contributed N2.42 trillion to the country’s export in Q3’20, followed closely by natural gas which contributed 9.28 percent to export.

Nigeria is still largely an oil-dependent economy but there is need to diversify to other sectors to boost growth and hedge against the impact of volatile oil prices as we have seen in 2020.

Read also: Nigeria & foreign trade falls by 8.8% in Q3 2020

Motor spirit, Durum wheat and used vehicles are top 3 imported goods in Q3

The largest imported good in the third quarter of 2020 was premium motor spirit (PMS), also called petrol. Import of PMS contributed 9.9 percent to total import at N532.6 billion, from 9.5 percent Q3’19.

Following closely are Durum wheat and used vehicles which contributed 3.9 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively, in the third quarter.

Decline in manufactured goods export

The value of manufactured goods was down by 47.7 percent in Q3’2020 against the level recorded in Q2’2020 and a massive decline of 86.7 percent compared with the corresponding quarter in 2019.

On the other hand, manufactured goods imports increased in value by 23.18 percent in Q3’2020 compared to Q2’ 2020 and 23.47 percent in the same period last year.

Agricultural export declines

Agricultural goods export dropped in value by 22.6 percent in Q3’2020 compared to Q2’2020, but increased by 43.7 percent in Q3’19.

However, imported agricultural goods increased in value by 21.13 percent in Q3,2020 compared to Q2, 2020, and 109.82 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2019.