Nigeria’s foreign trade drops to N11.6 trillion in Q3 2022 as oil export falls

Nigeria recorded a total foreign trade of N11.59 trillion in the third quarter of 2022, representing a 9.7% decline compared to N12.84 trillion recorded in Q2 2022.

This is, however, 10.7% higher than the N10.47 trillion recorded in Q3 2021.

The latest stat is contained in the newly released foreign trade report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Nigeria’s international trade fell to its lowest level since the third quarter of last year as a result of a huge decline in crude oil export earnings. Specifically, crude oil export fell by 21.2% to N4.66 trillion in Q3 2022 from N5.91 trillion recorded in the previous quarter.

Further breakdown: Imports increased by 4.2% quarter-on-quarter to N5.66 trillion compared to N5.44 trillion recorded in Q2 2022, while it increased by 6.2% from N5.34 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2021.

Also, export fell by 19.9% to N5.93 trillion in Q3 2022 from N7.41 trillion recorded in Q2 2022, although it increased by 15.5% on a year-on-year basis (Q3 2021: N5.14 trillion).

The value of Re-Exports in the third quarter of 2022 stood at N25.04 billion, showing an increase of 160.16% compared to the value recorded in the second quarter of 2022 but declined by 86.07% compared to the corresponding quarter of 2021 (N179.81 billion).

The top five export destinations in the third quarter of 2022 were Spain with a share of 14.72%, India with 10.44%, France with 7.25%, the Netherlands and Indonesia with 7.09% and 7.00%, respectively.