National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that Nigeria imported motorcycles worth N117.65bn from India and China in the first quarter of this year.
The country imported goods worth N3.32tn from Asian countries in Q1 2021, placing the region at the top of the list of Nigerian trade partners.
The NBS’ foreign trade statistics showed that trade with Asia countries constituted 48.45 per cent of Nigeria’s total import trade of N6.85tn.
According to the NBS, Asia was followed by Europe with N2.5tn or 36.08 per cent, America with N827.5bn or 12.08 per cent and Africa with N183bn or 2.68 per cent.
Trades with Oceanic countries were ranked as the least among the country’s global trade partners, accounting for N48.5bn or 0.7 per cent of total import trade.
The statistics office said, “Import trade classified by region showed Asia as the dominant originating region with a record of N3.32tn or 48.45 per cent.
“This was followed by Europe with N2.47tn or 36.08 per cent, America N827.8bn or 12.08 per cent, Africa N183.4bn or 2.68 per cent and Oceania N48.5bn or 0.71 per cent. Out of the value recorded for Africa, import from ECOWAS countries accounted for N20.8bn.”
Findings revealed that Nigeria’s trade with Asian countries grew from N2.56tn to N3.32tn, quarter by quarter, indicating an increase of N760bn.
A breakdown of Nigeria’s import trade with Asia in the first quarter of 2021 shows that Nigeria imported motorcycles worth N30.98bn and N86.67bn from India and China, respectively.
Nigeria spent N397bn on antibiotics and machinery for manufacturing rubber and plastic imported from India, and N75.1bn on “machines for voice” imported from China.
Other Asian countries Nigeria imported from in the period under review were Russia, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
“Herrings (clupea haregus, clupea pallasii) was imported from Russia (N15.8bn), machines for reception…of voice, worth N75.1bn and N21.8bn from China and Hong-Kong, while milk preparation worth N18.4bn and N7.8bn were imported from Ireland and Malaysia during the period under review,” the NBS said.
Nigeria earned only N1.32bn from exports to Asian countries, creating a trade deficit of N2bn.
Within this period, Nigeria exported products such as fermented cocoa beans, sesamum seeds, cashew nuts, and lead ores to countries such as China, Japan, India and Malaysia.
“Top exported Agricultural products were sesamum seeds exported mainly to China (valued at N23.1bn), Japan (N8.3bn) and Turkey (N3bn). This was followed by good fermented cocoa beans exported to Malaysia (N5.5bn),” the NBS said.
