N733.9bn used cars imported in 3 months – NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that N733.9 billion worth of used cars were imported into the country in the second quarter of 2023.

According to the NBS in a report titled: “Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics (Q2 2023)”, the high importation of the cars made it the second most imported product in the period, coming behind Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly referred to as petrol in the country.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that this would be the first time vehicle importation, labeled used vehicles, with diesel or semi-diesel engines, of cylinder capacity >2500cc, would be second on the list of most imported products into the country, displacing natural gas to third.

When compared to the first quarter of 2023, 69.4bn of used cars were imported.

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This is despite the federal government raising car import duties by 40 per cent, in addition to the two per cent Import Adjustment Tax (IAT) on vehicles manufactured beyond 12 years.

The report also stated that Nigeria’s total trade during the period was N12.7trn, indicating an increase of 5.77 per cent over the value recorded in Q1 2023, but a decline by 7.60 per cent when compared to the value recorded in Q2 2022.

It added that Nigeria exported N7trn worth of goods, showing an increase of 8.15 per cent when compared to the previous quarter, with trade dominated by crude oil exports valued at N5.5trn, which accounted for 79.63 per cent, while non-crude oil exports value stood at N1.4trn.

On the other hand, total imports stood at N5.7trn, indicating an increase of 2.99 per cent over the value recorded in the preceding quarter.

It added that N454.8bn agricultural goods were imported during the period, which decreased by 3.51 per cent and 2.07 per cent when compared to the value recorded in Q1 of 2023 (N471.3bn) and the corresponding quarter of 2022 (N464.4bn).

It said the top export destination of Nigerian goods during the period was the Netherlands, with N788.8bn, representing 11.24 per cent of total exports.

It stated that, “This was followed by the United States of America with N718.6bn or 10.24 percent, Indonesia with N550.1bn or 7.84 percent, France with N540.7bn or 7. 71 percent and Spain with N504.4bn or 7.19 percent. These five countries collectively accounted for 44.23 percent of the value of total exports in Q2, 2023.”

Conversely, Nigeria imported goods mainly from China and were valued at N1.2trn, representing 22.17 per cent of total imports, followed by the United States with N921.4bn; Belgium with N460.4bn, India with N417.7bn and the Netherlands with N369.6bn.