Goods imported hit 269% as Nigeria’s export value decreases

A report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) indicates that the value of manufactured goods imported into the country rose Year-on-Year (YoY) by 268.76 per cent to N9.03 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2023 (Q4’23) from N2.45 trillion in the same period in 2022. The figure also rose by 128.12 per cent when compared to N3.96 trillion recorded in the third quarter of 2023 (Q3’23). In the NBS report ‘Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics’ for Q4 2023, manufactured goods dominated the imports for the period, accounting for 64 per cent of total imports valued at N14.11trillion during the period.  On the other hand, the value of manufactured goods exports stood at N234.96 billion in Q4, 2023, a 24.45 per cent YoY decline from N311.01 billion recorded in Q4’22. The report also shows that manufactured goods mainly imported during the review period were tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, motorized, whet’ from Singapore valued at N5.061 trillion followed by used vehicles, with diesel or semidiesel engines imported from the United States and Italy valued at N94.27 billion and N6.69 billion. Other goods imported include parts of other gas turbines ‘not specified’ from The United States and Germany at N1.14 billion and N1.12 billion respectively, while machines for reception, conversion and transmission of voice, images or data valued at N6.46 billion were imported from China during the period. A shift to importation of goods hitherto manufactured in Nigeria by some multinationals that recently closed ground operations in the country due to foreign exchange (forex) volatility, naira devaluation and energy crises among others, may partly account for the increase in the value of manufactured goods import within the period under the review.