Nigeria’s Export of Non-oil products has raked in an all time high of approximately US$6.1 billion in the 2025 financial year, which is a $64 million increase in the value realised in the year 2024.

The head agency , saddled with the responsibility of developing the Non-oil sector for the sole purpose of economic diversification away from Oil exports released the figure Monday in Abuja.

The Executive Secretary and the Chief Executive Officer , Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, Barrister Nonye Ayeni stated this while Briefing journalists during the Annual Briefing on Non-oil Export in 2025 and 2026 projections.

Mrs Ayeni said this new record is regardless of unrecorded exports occasioned by unguarded borders across the nation.

She stated, “based on records obtained from the Pre-shipment Inspection Agencies, Nigeria’s non-oil export performance in 2025 reached an all-time high. Non-oil export value rose to approximately US$6.1 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of about 11.5% over and above the US$5.46 billion 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.

“This outstanding performance is not the total story as a lot of exports still go out informally through our various borders. NEPC is in partnership with National Bureau of Statistics and the Central Bank and other stakeholders are working hard to mainstream informal trade.

Speaking about the volume of export, she said this feat is an indication that the growth shows a strong export growth as the nation exported a total of 281 non-oil products.

“In volume terms, total non-oil exports stood at 8.02million metric tonnes, reflecting a 10% increase compared to the 7.29million metric tonnes recorded in the previous year. This growth in both value and volume demonstrates improved export activity across multiple value chains and market destinations.
In 2025, Nigeria exported a total of 281 non-oil products.

“These products cut across agricultural commodities, processed and semi-processed goods, industrial inputs, and solid minerals, reflecting gradual progress toward value addition and broader product representation in global markets”.

While the Netherlands tops the destinations of Nigeria’s Non-oil exports, intra- Africa trade experienced a decrease attributable to the exit of some three (3) francophone countries.

“Nigeria’s non-oil exports reached markets across 120 countries, with the Netherlands contributing 17.53%, Brazil 10.35%, and India 7.63% of non-oil export. Therefore, these 3 countries emerged as the top 3 destinations by value
Export to Netherlands increased by 32.46% with products including cocoa beans, cocoa butter, sesame seeds and others.. Export to Brazil increased by 19.07%.

“Within the African market, Nigeria exported non-oil products to 11 ECOWAS member countries. These exports, totaling 1,234,177.01 metric tons and amounting to US$271.255 million, constituted 4.46% of the total export value. This is a decrease of 13.08% compared to the sum of US$312.080Million for the year 2024. This difference is due to the exit of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger from the ECOWAS committee”, she stated.

In the period under review, two (2) ECOWAS countries secured a position among the top 20 global destination markets for Nigeria’s non-oil export, with Ghana coming in at 13th position and Cote D’Ivoire coming in at 20th position.

Nigeria also exported to Twenty-Five (25) other African countries outside ECOWAS bringing the total export destinations in Africa to thirty six (36). The value of these exports, totaling 967,397.94 Metric Tons and US$206.941 million, represented 3.40% of the total non-oil export value.

These are evidence to show that non-oil export is increasing, and all stakeholders are taking advantage of the potentials and opportunities inherent in the sector. It also lays credence to the fact that AFCFTA holds the key to Intra-African trade as it promises to be the largest free trade area in the world both by area and by the number of countries, connecting the 54 countries in Africa with over 1.3million people.

She said The Nigerian Export Promotion Council is working very hard with various stakeholders and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, to ensure that Nigeria becomes a hub and takes its position as the Giant of Africa.

In terms of products, Cocoa and its derivatives, Urea, Cashew, Sesame Seed, Gold Dore, Aluminium Ingots, Copper Ingots, Soya Beans and meal, and Rubber emerged as the top-performing non-oil export products for the year.