Nigeria’s non-oil exports reached US$3.225 billion in the first half of 2025, representing a 19.59% increase from the US$2.696 billion recorded in the same period of 2024, according to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
The Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja, noting that export volumes also rose to 4.04 million metric tonnes, up from 3.83 million metric tonnes in the first half of last year.
According to her, “The rising demand from emerging countries such as India, Brazil and Vietnam, and also Africa, increased Nigeria’s non-oil export volumes for the first half of the year.”
She revealed that 236 different products were exported during the period under review — an increase of 16.83% compared to the 202 distinct products exported in the first half of 2024. These ranged from agricultural commodities and extractive industry products to manufactured and semi-processed goods.
Cocoa beans remained Nigeria’s leading export commodity, accounting for 34.88% of total export value, up from 23.18% in 2024. “Urea and fertiliser came second with 17.65% as against 13.78% for the first half of 2024, while cashew nuts came third with 12.35% of the total export also against 8.62% for the same period in 2024, while sesame seeds came fourth accounting for 4.23%,” she stated.
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Ayeni added that cocoa and its derivatives dominated non-oil exports in the first half of 2025, making up 41.11% of total export value. “This is due largely to rising global demand, higher prices and increased local processing capacity. Thus, the export of value-added products such as cocoa butter, liqueur, and cakes reflects Nigeria’s progress in exporting value-added products,” she explained.
In terms of leading exporters, Indorama Eleme Fertilizer & Chemical Ltd and Starlink Global & Ideal Ltd retained first and second positions with 11.92% and 8.82% respectively, while Dangote Fertilizer Ltd ranked third with 6.39%. “This is attributed to their notable export value of fertiliser and cocoa products,” she noted.
Nigeria exported 662,000 metric tonnes of products to 11 ECOWAS countries, reflecting growth compared to 2024. It also exported 488 metric tonnes worth $83 million to 21 African countries outside ECOWAS, an increase of 2.59% in total value from 1.9% last year.
“Nigerian products were exported to Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. Of all these destinations, the Netherlands (18.64%), the United States (8.42%) and India (8.36%) were the top three countries based on the value of non-oil exports from Nigeria,” she added.
