By Obinna Uballa
Nigeria’s non-oil exports climbed to a historic high of $6.1bn in 2025, marking the strongest performance in the sector since the establishment of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) nearly 50 years ago.
The figure represents an 11.5 per cent increase over the $5.4bn recorded in 2024, signalling growing momentum in Nigeria’s drive to diversify its economy away from crude oil dependence.
The Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja while presenting the council’s annual progress report and non-oil export outlook for 2026.
Ayeni said data compiled from pre-shipment inspection agencies showed that the country had surpassed its previous peak, describing the 2025 performance as a landmark achievement for formal, documented trade.
“Based on records obtained from pre-shipment inspection agencies, Nigeria’s non-oil export performance in 2025 reached an all-time high of approximately 6.1 billion U.S. dollars, representing a year-on-year growth of about 11.5 per cent over the 5.4 billion U.S. dollars recorded in 2024,” she said.
She added that the result marked the highest non-oil export value achieved since the inception of the council, noting that Nigeria had exceeded its own record for the second consecutive year.
Beyond export value, Ayeni said volumes also recorded strong growth, with total non-oil exports rising to 8.02 million metric tonnes in 2025 from 7.29 million metric tonnes in 2024, representing a 10 per cent increase.
According to her, the improved performance was driven by increased activity across multiple value chains, including agricultural commodities, processed and semi-processed goods, industrial inputs and solid minerals, reflecting gradual progress in value addition.
“In 2025 alone, Nigeria exported a total of 281 non-oil products, underscoring our steady transition towards value-added exports and deeper integration into global value chains,” Ayeni said.
However, she cautioned that the figures do not yet reflect Nigeria’s full export potential, noting that a substantial volume of trade still takes place informally across the country’s land borders.
She said the NEPC is working with the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Nigeria and other stakeholders to integrate informal trade into official export data, improve accuracy and strengthen policy support for exporters.
Ayeni added that export reforms, incentives and capacity-building programmes would be intensified in 2026 to sustain growth and further expand Nigeria’s non-oil export footprint.
The record performance comes amid renewed government efforts to boost foreign exchange earnings, stabilise the naira and reduce the economy’s exposure to oil price volatility by deepening non-oil export revenues.
