The value of used vehicles imported into Nigeria decreased by 47 percent in 2022, to N325.05 billion from N617.48 billion in 2021.
This information was disclosed in the foreign trade data from the National Bureau of Statistics seen by RateCaptain.
NBS reports that used cars with diesel or semi-diesel engines cost N72.32 billion to import in the first quarter of 2022, N96.76 billion in the second, N90.77 billion in the third quarter, and N65.19 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, totaling N325.05 billion.
Comparatively, in 2021, vehicle dealers imported N174.22 billion worth of used vehicles in Q1 2021; N172.07 billion in Q2 2021; N185.41 billion in Q3 2021; and N85.77 billion in Q4 2021, amounting to N617.48 billion.
Vehicles dealers attributed the sharp decline in used vehicle imports to the high import duty, the foreign exchange crisis, and the low purchasing power of customers caused by economic hardship.
Oluwafemi Amisu, regional manager of Auto Auction Mall, told reporters that since the hike in the cost of duty, the importation of cars has started seeing a downward trend.
“The increase in import duties has 100% played an important role in the reduction of the importation of used cars, “Amisu said.
He also attributed the benchmarking of car models to an increase in shipping costs, which led to an increase in the price of the vehicles.
“The majority of transactions made by Nigerians importing vehicles are within the 08-010 model range, which typically cost N400,000 to N600,000 to clear. However, since 2014 has been chosen as the benchmark, clearing costs have increased from 1 million to N1.7 million,” Amisu said.
The Nigeria Customs Service announced in April 2022 that it would update the 2017–2021 edition of the ECOWAS Common External Tariff to the 2022–2026 version, under which used cars coming into the nation are subject to a 20 percent tariff rate.
