Nigeria’s merchandise trade rises to N24.43tn

Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer, National Bureau of Statistics, Dr. Yemi Kale

The National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday released the nation’s foreign trade statistics for 2014 with merchandise trade rising by N3.17tn or 14.9 per cent from N21.26tn in 2013 to N24.43tn at the end of last year.

The bureau stated in the report that the increase in trade arose from a sharp rise of 20.8 per cent in the value of exports from N14.24tn in 2013 to N17.20tn in 2014.

The report explained that a slight increase of N215.6bn, which amounted to only three per cent rise in imports, also contributed to the favourable trade balance of N9.97tn recorded in 2014.

It stated, “The total value of Nigeria’s external merchandise trade at the end of Q4 2014 was N5.74tn. This was 11.9 per cent lower than the value of N6.51tn recorded in the preceding quarter.

“At the end of 2014, Nigeria’s external trade stood at N24.435tn. This was N3.174tn or 14.9 per cent greater than the value recorded in 2013.”

The NBS report added that trade according to economic regions indicated that Nigeria consumed goods largely from Asia, with import value of N3.14tn or 43.5 per cent.

The country, the report stated, also imported goods valued at N2.43tn or 33.7 per cent from Europe, and N1.04tn or 14.4 per cent from America.

It said the import trade within Africa was N522bn or 7.2 per cent, while imports from the Economic Community of West African States region amounted to N46.1bn.

In terms of export, the report said on annual basis, the Nigeria’s total exports stood at 17.20tn at the end of 2014, representing a rise of N2.95tn or 20.8 per cent over the level in 2013.

It stated, “The structure of Nigeria’s export is still dominated by crude oil exports. The contribution of crude oil to the value of total domestic export trade amounted to N12.79tn or 74.4 per cent in 2014.

“Exports by section revealed that the highest export product for Nigeria in 2014 was mineral products, which accounted for N15.71tn or 91.4 per cent.

“Other products that contributed immensely to Nigeria’s exports include vehicles, aircraft and parts; vessels and products of chemical and allied industries, whose value stood at N357.7bn or 2.1 per cent, and N315.6bn or 1.8 per cent, respectively of the total exports of Nigeria for the year.”

Meanwhile, the NBS, in its employment report, which was also released on Wednesday, stated that the economy created 1.2 million jobs in 2014.

The jobs were created in the formal, informal sectors and public institutions.

A breakdown of the jobs created showed that 240,871 were created in the first quarter, while 259,353; 349,343 and 369,485 jobs were created in the second, third and fourth quarters, respectively.