From Atiku Sarki, Abuja
Nigeria’s non-oil export sector recorded a total value of $6.1bn in 2025, representing the highest performance in the country’s formal, documented trade history, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council has said.
The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of NEPC, Mrs Nonye Ayeni, disclosed this at a media briefing in Abuja while presenting the non-oil export performance for 2025 and the council’s outlook for 2026.
Ayeni said the figure represents an 11.5 per cent increase compared with the $5.46bn recorded in 2024, noting that the growth reflects Nigeria’s gradual progress in diversifying its economy away from crude oil dependence.
She revealed that a total of 281 non-oil products were exported in 2025, cutting across agricultural commodities, processed and semi-processed goods, industrial inputs and solid minerals.
“Based on records obtained from the pre-shipment inspection agencies, Nigeria’s non-oil export performance in 2025 reached an all-time high,” Ayeni said.
“Non-oil export value rose to approximately $6.1bn, representing a year-on-year increase of about 11.5 per cent over the $5.46bn recorded in 2024.
“This marks the highest non-oil export value achieved in the country for formal documented trade since the inception of the council, beating our own record and underscoring the growing resilience and relevance of the non-oil export sector to Nigeria’s economy.”
She added that the performance did not fully capture the scale of Nigeria’s export activities, as a significant volume of trade still passes through informal routes across the country’s borders.
“This outstanding performance is not the total story, as a lot of exports still go out informally through our various borders. NEPC, in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Nigeria and other stakeholders, is working hard to mainstream informal trade,” she said.
In volume terms, Ayeni said total non-oil exports stood at 8.02 million metric tonnes in 2025, reflecting a 10 per cent increase from the 7.29 million metric tonnes recorded in 2024.
She explained that the growth in both value and volume demonstrated improved export activity across multiple value chains and market destinations.
According to the NEPC boss, Nigeria’s non-oil exports reached markets in 120 countries during the year under review, with the Netherlands emerging as the top destination, accounting for 17.53 per cent of total export value.
Brazil followed with 10.35 per cent, while India accounted for 7.63 per cent.
“Exports to the Netherlands increased by 32.46 per cent, with products including cocoa beans, cocoa butter, sesame seeds and others. Exports to Brazil also rose by 19.07 per cent,” she said.
Within the African market, Ayeni noted that Nigeria exported non-oil products to 11 member states of the Economic Community of West African States.
She said the exports to the sub-region totalled 1,234,177.01 metric tonnes valued at $271.26m, representing 4.46 per cent of Nigeria’s total non-oil export value in 2025.
However, she noted that the figure reflected a 13.08 per cent decline compared with the $312.08m recorded in 2024.
According to her, the drop was largely due to the exit of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from ECOWAS-related trade arrangements.
Ayeni assured that ongoing reforms, export incentives and capacity-building initiatives would be intensified in 2026 to sustain the growth momentum and further expand Nigeria’s non-oil export sector.
She described the outlook for 2026 as “very bright and positive,” expressing optimism that the sector would maintain an upward trajectory.
“At NEPC, we remain resolute and committed to driving up the volume and value of non-oil exports and expanding market access for sustainable and inclusive economic growth, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President for job creation and poverty alleviation,” she said.
Outlining the council’s plans for 2026, Ayeni said NEPC would focus on capacity building and training for exporters, sensitisation on good agricultural practices to reduce product rejection and contract cancellations, and efforts to mainstream informal cross-border trade.
She said the council would work with relevant stakeholders to equip exporters with the skills and tools needed to compete effectively in the global market.
“We will continue to work on clusters and aggregation centres to pull more small and medium-scale enterprises into the export value chain for job and wealth creation,” she said.
Ayeni added that NEPC would also implement targeted interventions to support small and medium-scale exporters through improved access to finance, export insurance and capacity development, while encouraging downstream processing in agriculture, solid minerals and manufacturing through fiscal incentives and infrastructure support.
