Ike Amos
Abuja — Nigeria earned N514.741 billion in the first quarter of 2020, from the export of gas and other derivatives of gas, dropping by 1.01 per cent compared to export earnings of N520.002 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to data obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the First Quarter of 2020, stated that the export of gas and other derivatives of the commodity accounted for 12.6 per cent of total export in the period under review, compared to 10.9 per cent of total exports in the fourth quarter of 2019.
Giving a breakdown of total gas exports in the quarter under review, the NBS noted that the country earned N480.248 billion from the export of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG); N27.056 billion from other petroleum gases export; and N7.437 billion from the export of liquefied propane, representing 11.76 per cent, 0.66 per cent and 0.18 per cent of total export respectively.
In comparison, N445.909 billion, N50.807 billion, N9.386 billion, N9.147 billion and N4.753 billion, were earned from the export of LNG, other petroleum gases, liquefied propane, liquefied butane and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) respectively, in the fourth quarter of 2019, representing 9.35 per cent, 1.07 per cent, 0.20 per cent, 0.19 per cent and 0.10 per cent of total exports respectively.
Generally, the NBS disclosed that the value of Nigeria’s total trade stood at N8.305 trillion in first quarter 2020.This was 17.94% lower than the N10.12 trillion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2019, but 0.80 per cent higher than the N8.21 trillion trade recorded in the first quarter of 2019.
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The import component of this trade, according to the NBS, was valued at N4.22 trillion or 50.8 per cent of the total, while the export component totaled N4.083 trillion, representing 49.2 per cent of the total trade, indicating a decrease of 14.42 per cent relative to fourth quarter 2019 and 9.98 per cent compared to the value recorded in first quarter 2019.
According to the NBS, exports by section revealed that mineral products accounted for the largest proportion of exports, amounting to N3.478 trillion or 85.2 per cent, adding that this was due to the crude oil component of this section.
The NBS added that: “Analysis of trade by region revealed that Nigeria exported most products to Europe (N1.569 trillion or 38.43 per cent of total exports), followed by Asia (N1.277 trillion or 31.28 per cent), Africa (N978.21 billion or 23.96 per cent), America (N214.12 billion or 5.24 per cent) and Oceania (N44.14billion or 1.08 per cent). Within Africa, goods worth N296.3 billion were exported to ECOWAS member states.
“Exports by country of destination showed that Nigeria exported goods to India valued at N637.5 billion or 15.61 per cent; Spain, N402.9 billion or 9.87 per cent; The Netherlands, N396.9 billion or 9.72 9.87 per cent; South Africa, N319.5 billion or 7.829.87 per cent; and Cameroon, N301.8 billion or 7.39 9.87 per cent.”
