The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, said Nigeria recorded a total trade value of N32.26 trillion year-on-year in 2018, representing 39.3 per cent increase over the corresponding period in 2017.
The trade value for 2017 stood at N23.16 trillion.
The NBS said this in Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics for Fourth Quarter of 2018 posted on its website.
The bureau said the volume of total merchandise trade in 2018 was the highest recorded since 2014, nearly double pre-recession levels.
The Bureau said during the fourth quarter of 2018, total merchandise trade stood at N8.60 trillion compared to its value of N9.06 trillion recorded in third quarter of the year.
It said the total export component of the trade recorded at N5.02 trillion, represented an increase of 3.5 per cent over third quarter 2018 and 28.5 per cent over fourth quarter 2017.
Meanwhile, the bureau said the import component stood at N3.58 trillion in fourth quarters 2018.
The figure showed a drop of N631.6 billion or 15.0 per cent compared to third quarter, 2018 but an increase of 69.6 per cent when compared with the corresponding quarter in 2017.
However, it said the increase in export value and decrease in import value (relative to third quarter 2018) resulted in a favourable trade balance of N1441 billion, or 125.5 per cent over the preceding quarter.
According to the report, crude oil export has been the main stay of the economy, accounting for the largest share of total exports (84.2 per cent) in the fourth quarter of 2018 at N4.228 billion.
Non-oil products accounted for 4.6 per cent of total exports while other oil products accounted for 11.2 per cent of total exports in the quarter under review.
