By our correspondent

In 2022, Nigeria recorded a slight improvement in its trade balance as it had a trade surplus of N1.206 trillion after recorded imports of N25.591 trillion and exports of N26.797 trillion, indicating a total trade of N52.387 trillion.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, said in the fourth quarter of 2022, the total trade stood at N11.722 trillion, with exports at N6.360 trillion and imports at N5.363 trillion.
It was disclosed that total exports increased in Q4 of 2022 by 7.17 per cent and 10.28 per cent when compared with the third quarter of 2022 at N5.934 trillion and the corresponding quarter of 2021 at N5.767 trillion, respectively.
Conversely, total imports declined by 15.46 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with the value recorded in the third quarter of 2022 at N6.344 trillion and fell by 9.73 per cent when compared with the N5.941 trillion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2021.
The top five export destinations in the fourth quarter of 2022 were Spain, Netherlands, India, France, and Indonesia, accounting for 9.70 per cent, 9.03 per cent, 7.71 per cent, 7.70 per cent, and 7.44 per cent, respectively, of total exports.
Altogether, exports to the top five countries amounted to 41.59 per cent of the total value of exports.
The commodity with the largest export values in the period under review was ‘petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude’ with N4.912 trillion, representing 77.24 per cent, followed by ‘natural gas, liquefied’ with N704.88 billion, accounting for 11.08 per cent, and ‘urea, whether or not in aqueous solution’ with N160.56 billion or 2.52 per cent of total exports.
In terms of imports in the fourth quarter of 2022, China, Belgium, India, The Netherlands, and the United States of America were the top five countries of origin of imports to Nigeria.
The value of imports from the top five countries amounted to N2.994 trillion, representing a share of 55.82 per cent of the total value of imports.
The commodities with the largest values of imported products were ‘motor spirit ordinary’ at N1.559 trillion, ‘gas oil’ accounted for N220.47 billion, and ‘durum wheat (Not in seeds)’ accounted for N187.96 billion.
Re-export’s value in the quarter under review stood at N199.59 billion, representing 3.14 per cent of total exports, with the top five re-export destinations listed as Namibia, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroun, Ghana, and Togo while the most re-exported commodity was ‘floating or submersible drilling or production platforms with N142.02 billion, followed by ‘cruise ships and similar vessels for the transport of persons or goods <=500 tonnes’ valued at N14.78 billion and ‘refrigerated vessels, other than those of subheading 8901.20, of a capacity > 500 tonnes’ amounting to N13.16 billion.