By: Babajide Okeowo
Nigeria’s expenses on motor spirits (also known as fuel) and lubricants (processed) soared to N4.39 trillion in the first quarter of 2024.
According to the breakdown, N2.6 trillion was recorded for motor spirit and N1.756 trillion for others.
This represents an increase of 46% from the N1.8tr recorded for motor spirit in Q4|23.
These figures were contained in the latest foreign trade report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for the first quarter of the year released on Sunday, June 9, 2024.
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The cost of motor spirit imports was N1.8 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2023 and a combined N7.5 trillion for the entirety of 2023.
This compares to N3.82 trillion incurred in the last quarter of 2023 and N2 trillion in the first quarter of 2023, indicating that the country is spending more on imports of this essential product required by Nigerians.
The data also shows that import spending on fuels and lubricants has more than quadrupled since 2019, rising from N2.5 trillion to over N11 trillion in 2023.
A cursory analysis of the annual data using Nigeria’s official exchange rate on the last day of the year shows that imports in 2019 cost $7.1 billion (N2.56 trillion), $7.4 billion (N2.83 trillion) in 2020, and $14.5 billion (N6.3 trillion) in 2021.
In 2022, Nigeria incurred $21.69 billion (N9.9 trillion), the highest in recent years, with a drop to $13 billion (N11.8 trillion) in 2023.
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