2024: Customs N6.1trn revenue highest ever, above 2023 revenue by 90.5%-CGC Adeniyi

 

Maureen Aguta

 

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has disclosed that it collected humongous N6.10trillion revenue in 2024, surpassing the year’s revenue target by of ₦5trillion by ₦1 trillion, representing a 20.2 per cent increase above the target.

This was disclosed in Abuja on Tuesday in Abuja by the Comptroller General of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi who disclosed that this remarkable achievement represents a significant 90.4 per cent increase from our 2023 collection of ₦3,206,583,002,675.65.

He disclosed that the growth is historic as it marks the highest Year-on-Year increase recorded by the Service in recent times, surpassing the 52.24 per cent growth recorded in 2022 by 38.18 percentage points. Additionally, the Service achieved another milestone in October 2024 by recording the highest monthly collection ever of ₦603,171,859,991.97.

According to him, the total revenue collected for 2024 comprises three main components:

Federation Account Collections: The sum of ₦3,657,063,981,445.42 was collected into the Federation Account, consisting of Import Duty, Excise Duty, Fees, E-Auction proceeds, and CET Levy.

Non-Federation Account Levies: A total of ₦816,902,844,844.73 was collected as Non-Federation Account Levies.

Value Added Tax (VAT): The Service collected ₦1,631,348,717,199.35 as VAT on imports.

The CGC noted that these collections were achieved despite significant concessions granted to support various sectors of the economy, totalling ₦1,682,302,648,880.67.

“These concessions comprised ₦723,000,081,776.68 in import duty waivers, ₦372,649,650,951.72 in other levy concessions, and ₦586,652,916,152.27 in import VAT relief. These strategic concessions were granted to stimulate economic growth, support industrial development, and enhance the overall business environment in line with government policy objectives.

“Notably, the 2024 concession value represents a significant reduction from the ₦3,959,868,268,993.18 recorded in 2023. This reduction is a direct result of our enhanced monitoring mechanisms and strategic reforms aimed at blocking loopholes and eliminating abuses in the concession granting process, ensuring that only genuine and qualifying enterprises benefit from these incentives,” he said.

CGC Adeniyi further disclosed that these achievements were made possible through the Services’ continuous alignment with the policy objectives of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, under the guidance of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Olawale Edun, and the support of Management and the entire staff of Nigeria Customs Service.

Trade Facilitation

According to the CGC Adeniyi, at the beginning of 2024, the Service made several commitments towards modernizing its operations and enhancing service delivery. Despite its impressive revenue performance, it remained conscious of the need to strike a balance between revenue collection and trade facilitation.

This balance, he said was evident in the Service’s commitments at the beginning of the year and also served as a milestone for gauging performance throughout 2024. “They were further reiterated during the Comptroller-General of Customs Conference held later in the year,” he said.

CGC Adeniyi also disclosed that the trade performance data for 2024 reflected significant growth in trade value despite global economic headwinds. This was as the Service processed imports with a Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) value of ₦60.29 trillion in 2024, representing a remarkable 117.4 per cent increase from ₦27.74 trillion in 2023. This was achieved through 1,262,988 import transactions, handling a total mass of 15.35 billion kilogrammes. The higher value recorded despite an 8.2 per cent decrease in transaction volume from the previous year’s 1,376,514 transactions indicates a shift towards higher-value goods in our import trade portfolio, he disclosed.

According to the Customs CG, Nigeria’s export trade performance was equally impressive in the review year, with the total CIF value rising significantly to ₦136.65 trillion from ₦42.77 trillion in 2023, marking a 219.5 per cent increase. “While the number of export transactions remained relatively stable at 38,199 compared to 38,294 in 2023, we witnessed a substantial increase in export volume, processing 12.35 billion kilogrammes in 2024 compared to 3.70 billion kilogrammes in 2023. This 234 per cent increase in export mass, coupled with the higher value, indicates a robust growth in our export trade and suggests increasing competitiveness of Nigerian products in the international market,” he said.

Similarly, the total trade value handled by the Service in 2024 amounted to ₦196.94 trillion, compared to ₦70.50 trillion in 2023, representing a 179.3 per cent increase. This substantial growth in trade value, achieved with fewer but more valuable transactions, is evident of the increasing sophistication of Nigeria’s international trade and the effectiveness of our trade facilitation measures, CGC Adeniyi said.