The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that the country spent N1.492 trillion on the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) popularly known as petrol in the first quarter of 2023.
This figure was contained in the latest data on Nigeria’s Foreign Trade in Good Statistics for the first quarter of 2023.
NBS, however, disclosed that petrol import in the first quarter of 2023 was 20.34 percent lower than the N1.873 trillion spent to import the commodity in the same period in 2022.
The NBS stated that in the first quarter 2023 petrol import accounted for 26.84 percent and 12.38 per cent of total import and total trade, respectively, in the same period.
The statistical agency stated that in the first quarter of 2023, Nigeria’s total trade stood at N12.047 trillion of which total exports stood at N6.487 trillion and total imports amounted to N5.559 trillion.
It added that: “Total exports increased in the first quarter by 2.00 per cent but declined by 8.66 per cent when compared to the amount recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022 (N6.359 trillion) and the corresponding quarter in 2022 (N7.102. trillion) respectively.
“In the same vein, total imports increased by 3.67 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the value recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022 (N5.363 trillion) but then again declined by 25.83 per cent when compared to the value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2022 (N7.496 trillion).”
The NBS reported that at 26.84 per cent of total import, PMS ranked as the most imported commodity in Nigeria, in monetary terms, in the first quarter of 2023, followed by gas oil, which accounted for 8.50 per cent of total import, ranking second, with N472.4 billion.
Other major petroleum products that ranked among the top-15 most imported commodity in the first quarter of 2023 include aviation kerosene or jet fuel, which accounted for 1.26 per cent of total imports, ranking fifth, with N70.157 billion spent on its importation.
Lubricating oils ranked 13th on the import schedule, with N33.348 billion spent on its importation, accounting for 0.60 per cent of total imports; while petroleum bitumen import ranked 14th and accounted for 0.58 per cent of total import with N31.987 billion.
The country also spent N29.806 billion on the importation of oil and gas pipelines, representing 0.54 per cent of total imports and ranking the 15th most imported commodity.
