The coronavirus pandemic which led to the closure of businesses has seen Spain overtaking India as Nigeria’s top export destination in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020. Spain got 14% (N310.7 billion) of the total export trade of Nigeria in Q2 as against the 9.87% (N402.93 billion) recorded in Q1 2020.
Netherlands follows with 10.98% (N243.6 billion), up from 9.72% recorded in Q1 2020. While China received 9.93% share (N220.35 billion), India got 8.81% (N195.5 billion), down from the 15.61% (N637.53 billion) seen in Q1. South Africa got 7.76% (N172.19 billion) share within the same quarter.
These figures were disclosed in the latest foreign trade report, released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. The coronavirus pandemic led to a drop in crude oil price and sale to India which is Nigeria’s top crude buyer.
The report also stated that crude oil exports accounted for 70% (N1.55 trillion) of the total value of exports in Q2 2020. However, crude oil exports decreased in value by 47.2% in Q2 2020 compared to Q1 2020 and 60.5% year-on-year.
The report also shows that the latest crude oil export is the lowest recorded in the past four years. The last time a lower value was recorded was in Q2 2016 (N1.49 trillion).
According to the report, Nigeria’s total export during the quarter nosedived by 51.7% to stand at N2.22 trillion, a significant fall when compared to N4.59 trillion recorded in Q2 2019 and N4.08 trillion recorded in the previous quarter.
The report also showed that Nigeria’s total foreign trade recorded a decrease of 27.3% when compared to N8.59 trillion recorded in the previous quarter (Q1 2020). The decline is a reflection of the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.