Nigeria’s foreign trade surplus narrowed 32% q/q to NGN645bn ($3.2bn) in the third quarter, mainly because of a 19% drop in the value of crude oil exports, data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed. Compared to the same period last year, Q3’s trade surplus was 78% smaller.
Nigeria’s total exports shrank 12.1% q/q and 50.3% y/y to NGN2.33trn in Q3, while imports fell 1.0% q/q and 7.3% y/y to NGN1.69trn.
Africa’s biggest oil producer exported NGN1.61trn worth of crude oil in Q3, down 19% q/q and 49% y/y due to the plunge in global oil prices. According to previously released data by the NBS, the country’s average daily crude oil production increased to 2.17mbpd in Q3 from 2mbpd in Q2 and 2.15mbpd in Q3 2014.
Oil exports are a key indicator for Nigeria, as they are a major source of government revenue and foreign exchange earnings, but the country is troubled by widespread pipeline vandalism and oil theft, in addition to the sharp drop in oil prices.
Nigeria’s major export markets in Q3 were to India with a 17.5% share of total exports, followed by Netherlands with 10.5% and Spain with 9.1%.
Most of the imports to the West African country came from China, 27.2% of the total, followed by the US (9.5%), and Belgium (7.6%).
| Q3 2015, NGN bn | Q2 2015, NGN bn | Q3 2014, NGN bn | y/y change | q/q change | |
| Exports | 2 333.2 | 2 654.0 | 4 697.8 | -50.3% | -12.1% |
| --crude oil | 1 611.6 | 1 984.3 | 3 149.3 | -48.8% | -18.8% |
| --non crude oil | 721.6 | 669.7 | 1 548.5 | -53.4% | 7.7% |
| Imports | 1 688.2 | 1 705.7 | 1 820.7 | -7.3% | -1.0% |
| Trade balance | 645.0 | 948.3 | 2 877.1 | -77.6% | -32.0% |
| source: NBS |
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