The total value of Nigeria’s merchandise trade in Q2, 2016 was ₦3,942.0 billion. This was 49.0% more than the value of ₦2,645.5 billion recorded in the preceding quarter. This development arose from a rise of ₦725.6 billion or 63.3%, in the value of exports (largely due to exchange rate gains) combined with a rise of ₦570.8 billion or 38.1%, in the value of imports against the levels recorded in the preceding quarter.  This was contained in the latest report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The current trade position brought the country’s negative trade balance to – ₦196.5 billion during the period under review. This shows a ₦154.8 billion reduction in the country’s trade deficit over the previous quarter, the report said.

Nigeria’s import trade stood at ₦2,069.2 billion at the end of Q2, 2016, showing an increase of 38.1% from the value ₦1,498.4 billion recorded in the preceding quarter. As with exports, the increase in import value can be traced to a decline in the value of the naira. The structure of Nigeria’s import trade by section was dominated by the imports of “Boilers, machinery and appliances; parts thereof” which accounted for 34.9% of the total value of import trade in Q2, 2016. Other commodities which contributed noticeably to the value of import trade during the review period were “Mineral products” (15.8%), “Vehicles, aircraft and parts thereof; vessels etc.”(14.7%), “Products of the chemical and

allied industries” (7.6%) and “Base metals and articles of base metals” (5.1%).

The import trade classified by broad economic category  revealed that “capital goods and parts”

ranked first with ₦663.6billion or 32.1%. This was followed by “Industrial supplies (nec)”

with the value of ₦421.2billion or 20.4 %, and “Transport Equipment and Parts” with

₦356.1billion or 17.2%. The value of motor spirit stood at ₦296.1 billion. Nigeria’s import

trade by direction showed that the Country imported goods mostly from China,

Netherlands, United States, India and the United Kingdom, which respectively accounted

for ₦493.5 billion or 23.9%, ₦285.7 billion or 13.8%, ₦199.0 billion or 9.6%, ₦124.9

billion or 6.0%, and ₦119.3 billion or 5.8% of the total value of goods imported during the

quarter. Further analysis of Nigeria’s imports by Continent revealed that the country

consumed goods largely from Asia with import value of ₦886.1 billion or 42.8%. The

Country also imported goods valued at ₦813.9 billion or 39.3% from Europe and ₦255.3

billion or 12.3% from America. Import trade from Africa stood at ₦89.1 billion or 4.3%

while imports from the region of ECOWAS amounted to ₦20.8 billion.