Nigeria’s non-oil exports rose to $3.225 billion in the first half of 2025, a 19.59 percent increase from $2.696 billion in the same period of 2024.
Nonye Ayeni, director-general of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), announced the figures on Sunday while presenting the H1 2025 Non-Oil Export Performance Report in Abuja.
Ayeni said export volumes also increased to 4.04 million metric tonnes from 3.83 million metric tonnes in the first half of last year.
She noted that Q1 2025 exports were valued at $1.791 billion, up 24.75 percent from $1.436 billion in Q1 2024, with volumes rising by 24.3 percent to 2.416 million metric tonnes.
Ayeni said Nigeria exported 236 distinct products between January and June 2025, a 16.83 percent increase from 202 products in the same period last year.
According to her, the exports included agricultural commodities, extractive industry products, manufactured goods, and semi-processed items.
“It is pertinent to state that the non-oil export of Nigerian products is gradually diversifying from traditional agriculture exports to semi-manufactured products,” she said.
Cocoa beans led the top 20 products exported in H1 2025, accounting for 34.88 percent of total export value, up from 23.18 percent in the same period of 2024.
Urea and fertiliser ranked second with 17.65 percent, compared to 13.78 percent in H1 2024.
Ayeni attributed the growth in exports to market opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and NEPC’s capacity-building programmes on quality, standards, packaging, documentation, and certifications.
She said emerging economies such as India, Brazil, Vietnam, and several African countries have driven higher demand for Nigerian exports, while increased value addition has boosted earnings.
Ayeni reiterated NEPC’s commitment to working with the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment and other stakeholders to grow export value and volume in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
