ABSTRACT

The project sets out to examine the impact of international trade on Economic Growth of Nigeria from (1981 – 2010). The variables used for this study are real gross domestic product, Non-oil export value, Oil export value, Non-oil import value, oil import value, exchange rate and trade openness. The methodology used is Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and E-views SV7 software package. The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of international trade on economic growth of Nigeria. The T-test is used to determine the significance of the individual parameter estimates. The F-test is used to determine the significance of the entire regression plan. The regression result shows that NEV (Non-oil Export), NMV (Non-oil import), OMV (Oil import) and OEV (Oil export has a positive relationship with GDP) while Trade openness and EXRT (Exchange rate has a negative relationship with GDP). Data used in this study were extracted from CBN statistical bulletin, 2013. The empirical result reveals that the R² adjusted explain 75 percent of the total variation in the model, this shows a good fit. The researcher made the following recommendations among others: Emphasis should be on the promotion of non-primary exports and non- oil export i.e. manufactured goods.