External trade in Q3 rose to N4, 721.9billion, says NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday announced that Nigeria’s external trade volume in the third quarter (Q3) had risen to N4, 721.9 billion.

According to the quarterly external trade intensity index, oil contributed more to the total trade volume in the previous quarter at N1, 944billion or 41.2 per cent.

It was followed by the manufacturing sector, which contributed the second largest share to the volume at N1, 218.3billion or 25.8 per cent.

Also, exports to other countries were valued at N2, 309billion, while imports were slightly higher with a total of N2, 413billion, which indicated a marginal negative trade balance of N104billion.

The report stated that other oil products also contributed prominently to the sector, accounting for N1, 029.4 billion or 21.8% of the total value.

Among these contributors were raw materials, which accounted for 6.37 of the total value. Agriculture contributed 4.43 per cent, solid minerals, 0.43 per cent, leaving trade in energy goods at N0.1 billion.

The report further stated that individual products contributed the most to agricultural exports in the third quarter.The NBS report listed frozen shrimps and prawns as contributing N6.0 billion or 37.2per cent to the total volume.

By this contribution, the report added, these individual products represented the eight largest exports in the third quarter. The second agricultural products listed were sesame seeds (whether broken), which accounted for N4.82 billion, followed by cashew nuts in shell, which contributed N2.15 billion.