Nigeria’s non-oil export earnings climbed to $6.1 billion in 2025, marking the highest level ever recorded in the country’s history of formal trade.
Gatekeepers News reports that the figure represents an 11.5 percent increase compared to the $5.4 billion achieved in 2024.
Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nonye Ayeni, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja during the council’s annual progress report and 2026 non-oil export outlook briefing.
She said records obtained from pre-shipment inspection agencies confirmed that the 2025 performance surpassed all previous achievements since the council was established nearly five decades ago.
“Based on the records obtained from pre-shipment inspection agencies, Nigerian non-oil export performance in 2025 reached an all-time high,” Ayeni said.
“The non-oil export sector rose to approximately $6.1 billion, representing a year-on-year growth of about 11.5 percent over the $5.4 billion recorded in 2024.”
In terms of volume, Ayeni said Nigeria exported 8.02 million metric tonnes of non-oil products in 2025, reflecting a 10 percent rise from the 7.29 million metric tonnes recorded the previous year.
She attributed the growth to stronger export activities across several value chains and improved access to international markets.
Ayeni revealed that Nigeria exported 281 different non-oil products during the year, ranging from agricultural commodities to processed and semi-processed goods, industrial inputs, and solid minerals.
She said this development shows steady progress in value addition and export diversification, which remains a key objective of the federal government’s economic strategy.
According to NEPC, Nigerian non-oil products were shipped to 120 countries in 2025. The Netherlands emerged as the leading destination, accounting for 17.53 percent of total exports, followed by Brazil with 10.35 percent and India with 7.63 percent.
Within African market, Nigeria exported non-oil goods to 11 ECOWAS member states, totaling about 1.23 million metric tonnes valued at $272 million.
Ayeni noted that this represented a decline of about 4.6 percent, which she linked to the exit of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from the regional bloc.
Despite the record performance, the NEPC boss cautioned that the figures still fall short of Nigeria’s true export capacity, noting that a significant volume of trade continues to take place through informal cross-border channels.
She said the council is working with the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and other stakeholders to capture informal trade data and integrate it into official export records.
Looking ahead, Ayeni expressed optimism about the sector’s prospects in 2026, saying the council expects sustained growth in both export value and volume.
She added that the NEPC will intensify capacity building, training, and exporter education, while strengthening collaboration with development partners to sustain momentum in Nigeria’s non-oil export drive.
