Nigeria recorded a trade deficit of N1.87tn in the second quarter of the year despite recording 111.32 per cent in crude oil exports.

Nigeria recorded a trade deficit of N1.87tn in the second quarter of the year despite recording 111.32 per cent in crude oil exports.

However, statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics in Abuja on Wednesday showed that the country’s deficit improved within the period.

In the first quarter of the year, the country’s trade deficit stood at N3.94tn.

The Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics report for Q2 2021 by the NBS showed that crude oil, Nigeria’s largest export, rose to N4.08tn from N1.93tn in the first quarter of the year.

According to the NBS, crude exports constituted 80.29 per cent of the country’s total exports, higher than 66.38 per cent in Q1, while non-crude exports represented 19.71 per cent during the same period, lower than 33.62 per cent it occupied in Q1.