Nigeria’s import index up by 0.52% amid higher food prices

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday, disclosed that the all-commodity group import index grew marginally by 0.52 per cent between July and September 2021.

The NBS disclosed this in the “Commodity Price Indices and Terms of Trade for Quarter Three, 2021” published on its website.

The Bureau noted that the growth was driven mainly by products of the chemical and allied industries, wood and articles of wood, wood charcoal and articles, paper making materials, paper and paperboard articles.

It maintained that between July and August, the all-commodity group export price index averagely declined by 2.33 per cent due to decreases in the prices of mineral products, animal and vegetable fats and oils and other cleavage products and vehicles, aircraft and parts as well as vessels.

The report said that for the all-region group import index, there was a 0.52 per cent increase due to marginal increases in import prices from all the regions.

It added that the all-region terms of trade on average decreased by 2.85 per cent due to lower export prices to all the regions with rising import prices from all the regions.

The major export and import market of Nigeria in quarter three were India, Spain, Italy, France and China. The major exports to these countries were crude petroleum and Liquefied Natural Gas.

The NBS added that the major imports from these countries were motorcycles, vehicles with fuel engine, motor spirits, polyethylene and instruments, appliances and machines for measuring.

The bureau explained that Terms of Trade (TOT) represents the ratio between a country’s export prices and its import prices.

“The ratio is calculated by dividing the price of the exports by the price of the imports, usually in percentage terms.

“An increase in the TOT between two periods (or when TOT is greater than 100 per cent) means that the value of exports is increasing relative to the value of imports and the country can afford more imports for the same value of exports.”

Meanwhile, the selected food price watch for November 2021 released by the NBS revealed higher prices on a month-on-month basis and year-on-year basis for the commodities reported except for plantain (ripe and unripe) whose price declined on a month-on-month basis and onion bulb whose price declined on a year-on-year basis.

According to the Bureau, the average price of 1kg of beans rose on a month-on-month basis by 2.59 per cent showing a change from N464.74 in October to N476.76 in November 2021.

On a year-on-year basis, the NBS noted that there was an increment by 54.61 per cent from N308.36 in the corresponding month of November last year to N476.76 in November 2021.

Looking at the average price of agric eggs, there was a price surge from N55.49 in October to N57.35 in November 2021, a growth rate of 3.35percent on a month-on-month basis.

Compared to the previous year, the price of egg rose by 28.15 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N44.75 in November 2020 to N57.35 in November 2021.

In addition, the average price of 1 bottle of vegetable oil in November 2021 increased by 6.18 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N825.46 in October to N876.47 in November 2021. On a year-on-year basis, the price of this commodity recorded a growth rate of 38.93 per cent from N630.86 in November last year to N876.47 in November 2021.