Total trade declined by 17.94 percent to ₦8.304 billion in Q12020 compared to Q420191. The decline was driven by a drop in both total imports and export value which fell by 21.08 percent and 14.42 percent quarter on quarter, recording a deficit of ₦138.98 billion. A decline in total trade was recorded in energy and manufactured goods. While the value of agricultural goods exported grew by 85.36 percent quarter on quarter, and the value of agricultural imports by 12.02 percent concurrently. Trade in Q12020, although marginally higher than Q12019 total trade, reflects the lower economic activity experienced during the quarter. The volume of trade is expected to continue to decline as economies across the world turn inwards due the pandemic. However, the private sector can leverage on the pandemic to boost trade in services such as ICT services, as well as professional, scientific, and technical services which is more resistant to political and economic forces that threaten trade in goods. Given the large wage differentials in the service industry across countries, Nigeria stands to benefit from a service-based global integration.
July 14, 2020
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 24)
Related
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 51)
Recently released data by the National
Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that there was significant increase in Nigerias
total merchandise trade for 2016Q3. Basically, the total merchandise trade
increased (quarter-on-quarter) by 16.29 percent to N4, 722 billion in 2016Q3;owing to 29.1 percent increase in exports and 6.2 percent rise in imports. Oil
exports increased by 31 percent to N1, 943 billion, while non-oil exports
increased by 20.5 percent to N440 billion. However, on the aggregate, Nigeria
recorded yet another trade deficit of N104 billion, indicating continuous
higher imports relative to exports. Overall, though there is improvement in the
performance of non-oil sector, however, this is insufficient to effectively
complement the loss in oil trade sustained since the beginning of oil price
crash. This suggests that diversification into non-oil sector may not be able
to rescue the economy in the short term. However, while the diversification
efforts should be sustained, eliminating hurdles in oil production may be
instrumental to higher exports, especially as oil price increase is gaining
momentum.
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 35)
Nigeria's Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 0.55 percent in 2017Q21, compared to the -0.91 percent (revised) in 2017Q1 indicating the first quarterly positive growth rate since 2016Q1 and an evidenced exit from five quarters of economic recession. The acceleration in real GDP in 2017Q2 reflects the significant increase in oil sector GDP from -11.64 percent in 2017Q1, to 1.64 percent in 2017Q2 a 13.3 percentage points Quarter-on-Quarter increase. However, Non-oil GDP moderated by 0.3 percentage points to 0.45 percent. Despite the recent favorable economic performance, growth prospect remains fragile.