The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigeria recorded a trade deficit of N1.87 trillion in the second quarter of 2021.
NBS disclosed this in its ‘Foreign Trade Statistics, Q2 202’2, released on its website at the weekend.
The report notes that in the period under review, while Nigeria spent N6.95 trillion on imports, it also recorded exports N5.08 trillion.
In other words, imports exceeded exports by N1.87 trillion, which is the deficit. The transaction resulted in a total trade of N12.03 trillion in the second quarter.
According to the report, the transaction was 23.28 per cent more than last quarter Q1 2021 and 88.71 percent more than the same quarter in 2020.
In the period under review, the document reflected that Nigeria recorded N4.08 trillion crude oil exports and N1.00 trillion non-crude oil exports. It added that there was also non-oil export of N462.85 billion in the period under review.
While crude oil/total exports constituted 80.29 percent of the transaction, 42.22 percent was export/total trade.1.45 percent was change imports, 74.72 percent was change exports while 9.11 percent was non-oil exports/total exports.
“During quarter 2, 2021 the total merchandise trade stood at N12,029.6 trillion representing 23.28 percent increase over the value (N9,757.87billion) recorded in Q1,2021 and 88.71 percent increase compared to Q2,2020.
“This increase resulted from the sharp increase in export value during the quarter under review.
“The export component of this trade was valued at N5,079.44 trillion or 42.22 percent, the import was valued at N6,950.21 trillion or 57.78 percent while the trade balance stood at a deficit of N1,870.77 trillion.