The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Nigeria’s total trade was valued at N32.42 trillion in 2020, signifying a 10.3 per cent decline compared to N36.15 trillion recorded in 2019. This is contained in its “Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Quarter Four (Q4) 2020” report published on its website on Tuesday in Abuja.
The report said that the value of total imports in 2020 stood at N19.898 trillion, or 17.3 per cent higher than the N16.96 trillion recorded in 2019.
It added that total exports was valued at N12.522 trillion, or 34.8 per cent less than the N19.19 trillion recorded in 2019 and that the annual merchandise trade deficit in 2020 stood at -N7.375 trillion. Giving an overview of the Q4, 2020 merchandise, it said that total trade stood at N9.120 trillion, representing 8.9 per cent over the level recorded in Q3 but was 9.9 per cent lower when compared to Q4 2019.
“The value of trade in Q4 was the highest recorded over the past year. “The export component of trade stood at N3.194 trillion, an increase of 6.7 per cent over the preceding quarter but a drop of 33 per cent over the previous year.
“Further, the share of exports in total trade declined to 35 per cent in Q4 from 47 per cent a year earlier.”
The bureau said that on the other hand, total imports reached a record high at N5.925 trillion in Q4, an increase of 10.1 per cent over the preceding quarter, and 10.8 per cent over the preceding year. It said that imports also accounted for 65 per cent of total trade in Q4 2020, compared to 53 per cent in 2019, while for 2020, the value of total imports was 17.3 per cent higher than the value recorded in 2019.