Nigeria’s Trade Deficit Hits ₦5.7 Trillion In Q2 2023

The Foreign Trade Statistics report has revealed that Nigeria’s trade deficit in the second quarter of 2023 has hit ₦5.7 trillion.

Naija News reports that according to the report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Thursday, Nigeria’s total trade stood at ₦12.7 trillion, while total exports stood at ₦7tn and total imports amounted to ₦5.7 trillion.

Meanwhile, Nigeria has raked in ₦3.48 trillion as Revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income Tax, CIT, in the first half of 2023 (H1’23).

Naija News reports that the figure reflects a 17 percent increase Year-on-Year (YoY) from ₦2.97trillion in the corresponding period of 2022, H1’22.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS), VAT revenue stood at ₦1.49 trillion in H1’23, rising Yo Y by 25 per cent from ₦1.19 trillion in H1’22.

The NBS, in its report on Monday, revealed that CIT also increased YoY by 11.7 per cent to ₦1.99 trillion in H1’23 from ₦1.78 trillion in H1’22.

The report further stated that “On the aggregate, VAT for Q2’23 was reported at ₦781.35 billion, showing a growth rate of 10.11 per cent on a QoQ basis from ₦709.59 billion in Q1’23.

Local payments recorded were ₦512.03 billion, Foreign VAT Payments were ₦142.63 billion, while import VAT contributed ₦126.69 billion in Q2’23. “On a QoQ basis, the activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies recorded the highest growth rate with 212.06 per cent, followed by real estate activities with 123.09 per cent.

“On the other hand, activities of households as employers, undifferentiated goods- and services-producing activities of households for own use had the lowest growth rate with –57.06 per cent, followed by agriculture, forestry, and fishing with –32.86 per cent.

In terms of sectoral contributions, the top three largest shares in Q2’23 were manufacturing with 29.64 per cent; information and communication with 21.19 per cent; and financial and insurance activities with 11.18 per cent.”