Ike Amos
Dublin, Ireland — The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that Nigeria spent N4.56 trillion on the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, in 2021.
According to the NBS, in its Foreign Trade Statistics for the Fourth Quarter of 2021, the amount spent on fuel import was higher than the amount the country expended on the import of food and beverages and raw materials in 2021.
The NBS noted that agricultural imports gulped N1.967 trillion in the year under review; raw materials import stood at N1.27 trillion; the country recorded food and beverages imports of N2.925 trillion; while importation of capital goods and spare parts stood at N4.22 trillion.
The amount the country spent on fuel import in 2021 was 127.4 per cent higher than the N2.008 trillion spent on the import of the commodity in 2020.
Also, the NBS data revealed that Nigeria’s 2021 fuel import bill was higher than the N2.95 trillion and N1.71 trillion spent to import the commodity in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
The statistics agency added that fuel import accounted for 21.89 per cent of Nigeria’s total import of N20.84 trillion in 2021, compared to 15.8 per cent of the N12.7 trillion total import in 2020.
In the fourth quarter of 2021, the NBS noted that fuel import stood at N1.444 trillion, accounting for 24.31 per cent of total import of N5.94 trillion; making fuel import Nigeria’s largest import in the fourth quarter of 2021.
In addition to PMS, kerosene type jet fuel, according to the NBS, was Nigeria’s sixth biggest import in the fourth of 2021, with an import bill of N75.536 billion, accounting for 1.27 per cent of total imports in the period.
Gas oil import gulped N69.437 billion of Nigeria’s scarce foreign exchange, accounting for 1.17 of total import in the fourth quarter; while lubricating oils accounted for 0.89 per cent of Nigeria’s total import in the fourth quarter, with N52.929 billion.
Other major non-oil import items in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to the NBS, include durum wheat, N397.19 billion, accounting for 6.69 per cent of total imports; used vehicles, N85.779 billion, accounting for 1.44 per cent of total imports; and crude palm oil, N48.8 billion, representing 0.82 per cent of total imports.
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