Nigeria’s total trade for the second quarter of 2022 declined slightly to stand at N12.8 trillion. This fall in the country’s merchandise trade which was due to the decline in total import led to an improved trade balance, as total export ticked up and was significantly higher than total import in the quarter under review.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), total exports were ₦7.4 trillion while total imports stood at ₦5.4 trillion for the second quarter of 2022. In this quarter under review, total exports increased by 4.31% from the first quarter’s ₦7.1 trillion and by 47.55% from the value recorded in the corresponding period in 2021 (₦5.02 trillion). Conversely, total imports decreased by 7.89% in the second quarter of 2022 when compared to the value recorded in the first quarter of 2022 (₦5.9 trillion) and grew by 15.83% when compared to the value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021 (₦4,692.33 billion).
The second quarter of 2022 has come with a severe disruption to supply chains, raising prices of global commodities and having an implication for domestic prices. Surprisingly, Nigeria was able to record a favorable trade balance despite that the price levels for most of the products that top the country’s import list spiked seriously. For some of these products, the prices reached decades’ highs, feeding into import expenditure.
The top 5 import items in the second quarter of 2022 in Nigeria are motor spirit ordinary, gas oil, durum wheat, machines for conversion and transmission of voices, and kerosene-type jet fuel.
Motor Spirit (ordinary) – 17.46%
Motor Spirit remained the largest item on Nigeria’s import list, responsible for 17.46 percent of the total imports. This figure is lower than the percentage contribution recorded in Q1 2022 and higher than in the corresponding quarter in 2021; 25.54 percent and 11.26 percent respectively. The total value of this import item in Q2 2022 is N948.76 billion, decreasing by N558 billion from the previous quarter’s N1.5 trillion.
Gas Oil – 6.58%
The second largest item on Nigeria’s import list is gas oil. It jumped to this position having contributed 6.58 percent of total imports for the review quarter. The total amount expended on the importation of this item was N357 billion. Gas oil was not on the list of the top import items in the previous quarter, however, for the corresponding quarter in 2021, it was the fourth largest import and responsible for 2.19 percent of the country’s total imports.
Durum Wheat (not in seed) – 4.46%
Durum wheat was responsible for 4.46 percent of total imports in the second quarter of 2022, a decrease of 6.1 percent from the first quarter’s import value (N258.31 billion). It maintained its position as the third largest item on the import list with N243 billion being the total amount for its import in the review quarter. In the preceding quarter, Durum Wheat made up 4.38 percent of total imports. However, for Q2 2021, it was the second most imported item, making up 4.67 percent of the country’s total imports.
Machines for Reception, Conversion, and Transmission of voice – N1.93%
These items jointly made up N105 billion (1.93 percent) of the total import. The items were not on the list of the top import products in the previous quarter, Nevertheless, They were the fifth most imported items (2.05 percent) in the corresponding quarter in 2021.
Kerosene-type Jet Fuel
Responsible for 1.88 percent (102 billion) of the second quarter’s total import, this item is the fifth most imported product in Nigeria. In Q2, 2022, the importation of Kerosine-type jet fuel declined from the 4.96 percent (293 billion) recorded in the previous quarter.
Overall, the listed items are the most imported products in Nigeria, totaling 1.8 billion in import value and amounting to as much as 32 percent of the country’s total imports for the review period.
