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Merchandise trade drops by N495bn – NBS

By on May 16, 2014

The National Bureau of Statistics has said the country recorded a decrease of N495.3bn in total external merchandise trade from N5.658tn in the third quarter of 2013 to N5.162tn in the fourth quarter.

In the trade report released on Wednesday and signed by the Statistician-General of the Federation/Chief Executive, NBS, Dr. Yemi Kale, the bureau said the N495.3bn represented a decrease of 8.8 per cent over what was recorded in the third quarter of the year under review.

The report attributed the change to a decline in the value of imports and exports by 19.1 per cent and 2.7 per cent respectively from the previous quarter.

For instance, it stated that while the value of imports declined from N2.084tn in the third quarter of 2013 to N1.686tn in the fourth quarter; the value of exports also dropped from N3.573tn to N3.476tn over the same period.

The resulting trade balance of N1.790tn, according to the report, represented an increase of N302.2bn or 20.3 per cent from the preceding quarter.

On a year-on-year comparison, the report said that total trade was N21.261tn for the 2013 calendar year, indicating a decrease of 24.3 per cent or N6.810tn lower than the N28.071tn recorded for 2012.

The report blamed the drop on a 36.5 per cent decline in exports.

The crude oil component of total exports, according to the report, stood at N2.981tn for the fourth quarter, while the non-crude oil accounted for N495.2bn.

 

 

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