APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
Trade balance between Nigeria and China increased to N7.54tn in the first nine months of 2023, according to the data of Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The Punch newspaper report on Tuesday said that the trade balance between Nigeria and China increased to N7.54tn in the first nine months of 2023.
According to the newspaper’s analysis of data from the NBS , the bilateral trade deficit in favour of China is widening, with a steady increase in Nigeria’s imports from the Asian country in the past one year.
It added that the foreign trade statistics released by the Bureau showed that Nigeria imported N8.4tn worth of goods from China in the nine months between January and September 2023.
A break down showed that the country imported N1.29tn worth of produce in Q1, N2.56tn in Q2 and N4.53tn in Q3.
Further details of the NBS data for the nine months 2023 show that exports from Nigeria to China was valued at N126.61bn in Q1, N251.8bn in Q2 and N482.4bn in Q3, making a total of N860.82bn and indicating huge deficits during the period.
Nigeria’s main exports to China include minerals, metals, agricultural products, crude oil, and agricultural products.
In 2021, a report by obtained from China’s Custom agency stated that Nigeria topped the chart amongst African countries importing from China with imported goods valued at $23bn (about N9.6tn) or 16 percent of total continent’s imports from China.
GIK/APA