The trade relationship between China and Nigeria has been reaffirmed as being dominated by China, with the bilateral trade gap between the two countries expanding in China’s favour.
Nigeria’s imports from Asia have steadily increased, rising by 183.91 percent from N530.98 billion in the first quarter of 2018 to N1.51 trillion in the first quarter of 2022, according to available data.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on international commerce, China accounts for the majority of imports into Nigeria, ranking first among the top ten nations in the five quarters examined.
However, Nigerian exports to China are insignificant, as the country was not among the top ten export destinations in Q1 2018 – Q1 2020 – Q1 2022.
Total imports from China were estimated to be N2.01 trillion in the same period.
China’s imports increased in each of the three quarters examined. It was N530.98 billion in Q1 2018, N979.29 billion in Q1 2019, and N1.11 trillion in Q1 2020. It peaked at N2.01tn in Q1 2021 and then fell to N1.51tn in Q1 2022.
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Motorcycles, voice reception machines, electrical apparatus for line telephony, or line telegraphy, mackerel, parts of machinery for working on rubber or plastics, crude salt, compressed salt used in animal feeding, antibiotics, herbicides, and more are among the items imported from China, according to the NBS.
Polyethylene, leather, sesamum seeds, cashew nuts, zinc ores and concentrates, lead ores, and other items were among Nigeria’s exports to China during the time period under consideration.
Imports to China accounted for 25.55 percent of total imports in Q1 2022. (N5.90tn).
It accounted for 29.34% of total imports in the first quarter of 2021. (N6.85tn). It was 26.28 percent of total imports (N4.22 trillion) in Q1 2020, 26.4 percent of total imports (N3.70 trillion) in Q1 2019, and 21.1 percent of total imports (N2.52 trillion) in Q1 2018.
Nigeria ($23 billion, or 16 percent), South Africa ($21 billion, or 14 percent), Egypt ($18 billion, or 12 percent), Ghana ($8 billion, or 5 percent), and Kenya ($7 billion) were the top five African countries that imported the most goods from China in 2021, according to data from China’s customs agency. Last year, their combined imports accounted for more than half of all Chinese goods imported into Africa.
On the other hand, Nigeria is not among the top five African exporters to China in 2021 which include South Africa $33 billion or 31 percent of total exports to China, Angola $21 billion or 20 percent, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) $12 billion or 11 percent, Republic of Congo $5 billion or 5 percent and Zambia $4 billion or 4 percent. Their combined exports accounted for 71 percent of all exports to China last year.
