Nigeria’s foreign trade dropped by N7tr in 2020 — Report

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported that Nigeria lost N7.38 trillion in foreign trade in 2020.

The Foreign Trade Statistics for the fourth quarter of 2020 released by the NBS showed that Nigeria incurred losses in foreign trade because the country was involved more in imports than exports.

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The report showed that total trade was valued at N32.42 trillion in 2020, or 10.3 per cent less than the value recorded in 2019. The value of total imports in 2020 stood at N19.90 trillion, or 17.3 per cent higher than in 2019 while total exports were valued at N12.52 trillion, or 34.8 per cent less than in 2019.

In addition, Nigeria’s trade deficit rose to its highest level and a fifth consecutive quarterly deficit at N2.73 trillion in the third quarter of 2020.

The negative trade balance in the fourth quarter of 2020 was an increase of 14.30 per cent compared to the deficit in the third quarter of 2020.

NBS explained that this was because “imports nearly doubled the value of exports” in the fourth quarter.

The report showed that in the fourth quarter of 2020, Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N9.12 trillion, representing 8.9 per cent over the level recorded in the third quarter of 2020 but was 9.9 per cent lower when compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.

However, the value of trade in the fourth quarter was the highest recorded over the past year.