This surge was predominantly fueled by an impressive 83.23% rise in crude oil revenue, totaling N8.54 trillion for the quarter, compared to N4.66 trillion in the same period of 2022.
The surge in trade activities during this period contributed to a substantial 60.78% increase in total exports, reaching N10.35 trillion, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics in its 'Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics (Q3 2023)' released on Monday.
The report highlighted, "Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N18.80 trillion in Q3, 2023. The value indicates an increase of 54.62% over the amount recorded in Q2, 2023, as well as by 53.16% when compared to the value recorded in Q3 2022."
“Total exports accounted for 55.02 per cent of total trade in the reviewed quarter with a value of N10.35tn, showing an increase of 60.78 per cent and 74.36 per cent over the value recorded in the preceding and corresponding quarters respectively.
“Exports trade in the third quarter of 2023 was dominated by crude oil exports valued at N8,535.61 billion representing 82.50 per cent of total exports while the value of non-crude oil exports stood at N1.81tn accounting for 17.50 per cent of total exports; of which non-oil products contributed N677.57bn or 6.55 per cent of total exports.
“On the other hand, the share of total imports accounted for 44.98 per cent of total trade in the third quarter of 2023 with the value of imports amounting to N8.46tn in Q3, 2023. This value indicates an increase of 47.70 per cent and 33.33 per cent respectively over the value (N5.73tn) and (N6.34tn) recorded in the preceding and the corresponding quarters of 2022.”
The country’s trade balance stood at N1.89tn. The statistics body noted that Spain (N1.27tn), India (N1.02tn), The Netherlands (N988.66bn), Indonesia (N758.59bn), and France (N720.45) recorded the highest exports from Nigeria. Altogether, exports to the top five countries amounted to 45.98 per cent of the total value of exports.
The country imported most from China (N1.97tn), Belgium (N996.65bn), India (N802.07bn), Malta (N561.37bn), and the United States of America (N502.92bn) which totaled N4.84tn, representing a share of 57.18 per cent of total imports.
