By Ogaga Ariemu

Imports bill on used vehicles (Tokunbo) in Nigeria dropped by 83 percent to N138.62 billion in the first half of 2024 compared to N819.15 billion the corresponding period in 2023.

This is according to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, Commodity Price Indices and Terms of Trade Data.

The data showed that in Q2 2024, the value of imported used vehicles stood at N138.62 billion, representing an 81.5 percent decline on a year-on-year basis from N749.92 billion in Q2 2023.

Further analysis of the data indicated that the used vehicles were imported mainly from the United States of America.

“On the other hand, total imports from America in Q2 2024 stood at N971.84 billion,” the NBS stated.

NBS added that “The All Products Terms of Trade (TOT) Index on average decreased by 0.06 percentage points”.

The drop in the importation of used cars is coming despite the suspension of a 25 percent penalty on illegally imported vehicles by the Nigeria Customs Service in March 2024.

In the last months, the cost of imports into Nigeria had skyrocketed following the foreign exchange crisis, which has led to a drop in the value of the Naira.

The exchange rate between the Naira and the dollar stood at N1540.78 last Friday, from N460 in June last year.