LAGOS: The value of external merchandise exported from Nigeria rose sharply in 2014 from 14.2 trillion in 2013 to 17.2 trillion, showing an increase of 20.8 per cent.
However, the hope of increasing non-oil trade was yet to materialise as crude and mineral products accounted for the bulk of the exports.
According to the 2014 foreign trade statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday, the estimated value of crude oil alone to the total domestic export trade was 12.79 trillion or 74.4 per cent while combined with other mineral products, the value rose to 15.7 trillion or 91.4 per cent.
Other products that contributed immensely to Nigeria’s exports include “Vehicles, aircraft and
parts thereof; vessels etc.” and “Products of the Chemical and allied industries” whose values stood at 357.7 billion or
2.1 per cent and 315.6 billion or 1.8 per cent respectively, of the total exports of Nigeria for the year.
Total imports, on the other hand increased slightly by 215.6 billion, which amounted to only a 3.0 per cent rise during the year.
Total value of Nigeria’s external merchandise trade at the end of 2014 Nigeria’s external trade stood at 24.4 trillion. This was 3.27 trillion or 14.9 per cent greater than the value recorded in 2013.
The data also showed that exports by continent showed that Nigeria mainly exported goods to Europe and Asia, which accounted for 7.4 trillion or 43.2 per cent and 4.9 trillion or 28.9 per cent respectively, of the total export value for 2014. Furthermore, Nigeria exported goods valued at 2.03 trillion or 11.8 per cent to the continent of Africa while export to the ECOWAS region total led 842.8 billion.
