The National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) says Nigeria’s total merchandise trade stood at N11,597.93 billion in the third quarter of 2022.

This is contained in the NBS Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Report for Q3 2022, released in Abuja on Tuesday.

The report said the figure was lower than the value recorded in the second quarter of 2022, which was N12,841.54 billion, indicating a decrease of -9.68 per cent. 

“However, it was higher than the value recorded in Q3 2021, which stood at N10,472.42 billion, indicating an increase of 10.75 per cent,” the NBS said.

It said Nigeria’s merchandise trade fell in Q3 2022 due to a decline in export trade resulting in a decrease in the trade balance. 

The NBS said total exports stood at N5,933.63 billion, of which re-exports were N25.04 billion, while total imports stood at N5,664.30 billion. 

The report said in Q3 2022, total exports declined by 19.89 per cent at N5,933.63 billion when compared to the second quarter of 2022 at N7,406.53 billion. However, total exports increased by 15.52 per cent of the value recorded in the third quarter of 2021 at N5,136.56 billion.

It said the export trade value in Q2 2022 was dominated by crude oil exports valued at N4,658.30 billion, accounting for 78.51 per cent of total exports. While non-crude oil exports value stood at N1,275.33 billion representing 21.49 per cent of total exports of which non-oil products contributed N438.00 billion representing 7.38 per cent of total exports.

Conversely, the report said total imports increased by 4.22 per cent in Q3 2022 at N5,664.30 billion compared to the value recorded in Q2 2022 at N5,435.01 billion.

It said total imports also grew by 6.16 per cent in Q3 2022 at N5,664.30 billion compared to the value recorded in Q3 2021 at N5,335.86 billion. 

The report said the value of re-exports in Q3 2022 stood at N25.04 billion, showing an increase of 160.16 per cent compared to the value recorded in Q2 2022. However, re-exports declined by 86.07 per cent compared to Q3 2021 recorded at N179.81 billion.

The report said in Q3 2022, the top five re-export destinations were Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, the UK, China and The Netherlands.

It said the most re-exported commodities were vessels and other floating structures for breaking up at N8,046.60 billion, followed by floating or submersible drilling or production platforms valued at N4,966.63 billion and aeroplanes and other aircraft, of an unladen weight exceeding 15,000kg amounting to N3,434.73 billion.

(NAN)