•Households’ spending on food import surges by N64b in one year
While Nigerians’ spending on food and beverage imports rose by 31.4 per cent on a year-on-year basis in quarter one (Q1), the value declined by 24.4 per cent in dollar terms, analysis of the foreign trade data has shown.
According to the Foreign Trade Statistics Report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Sunday, food and beverage import bill rose from N1.21 trillion in Q1 of 2023 to N1.59 trillion last quarter, translating to a 31.4 per cent increase or N380 billion.
However, owing to the sharp depreciation of the local currency in the period, last year’s Q1 food and beverage import bill was higher than that of this year by was higher by $390 million.
In absolute terms, Nigerians spent $1.6 billion on food and beverage in the first three months of last year as against $1.21 billion spent in the same period this year.
According to the report, food and beverage imports constituted 12.59 per cent of total imports between January and March 2024, a marginal increase from 11.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2023.
In Q1 of 2023, the total naira value of food and beverage imports stood at N740 billion and using the exchange rate on 31st of March 2023, the dollar value of food imports was $1.6 billion.
An analysis of the figure for Q1 2024 using the exchange rate for 31st of March 2024 (N1309/$) suggests a further drop to $1.21 billion.
A further breakdown of the figures shows that primary food and beverage imports for industries and household consumption stood at N726 billion for the quarter and when compared to the previous quarter, there was an increase of N160 billion in primary food and beverage imports.
Under the primary category, food and beverage imports for individuals and household consumption were valued at N186.6 billion while those of industries stood at N540.1 billion. On a year-on-year basis, this category of imports increased by N64 billion from N122 billion recorded in Q1 of 2023.
Food imports for industries stood at N540 billion in Q1 of 2024, an increase of 114 per cent from N252 billion recorded in Q1 of 2023. When compared to Q4, 2023, there was an increase of 32 per cent from N409 billion recorded during the period.
The processed food and beverage imports stood at N865 billion, an increase of 137 per cent compared to N365 billion in Q1 of 2023. In the immediate past quarter, the processed food and beverage import bill increased from N650.55 billion to the current figure.
Processed food and beverage imports (household consumption), stood at N358.27 billion, an increase of 165 per cent when compared to the same quarter of last year, which recorded N135.15 billion in the value of imports. Also, there was an increase of N90.1 billion when compared to the N268.17 billion recorded in Q4 of 2023.
The federal government is proposing to open the borders to certain food imports, especially rice, which has seen a 169 per cent increase in the last year as a short-term solution to the prevailing food inflation.
