Nigeria’s non-oil export sector achieved a historic milestone in 2025, generating $6.1 billion in revenue, the highest since the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) was established nearly 50 years ago.
The Executive Director, NEPC, Nonye Ayeni disclosed the figures at a news conference in Abuja.
She said the performance represents an 11.5% year-on-year growth from the $5.4 billion recorded in 2024.
The NEPC boss who identified Netherlands as Nigeria’s top export destination, followed by Brazil and India said data obtained from pre-shipment inspection agencies revealed that export volumes also surged, reaching 8 million metric tons a 37.9% increase over the previous year as a total of 281 distinct products were exported in the period under review.
She noted that despite the overall growth, exports to the ECOWAS region faced a 4.6% decline, totaling $272 million, resulting from the withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from the ECOWAS community, adding that trade however, remained strong with Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, which ranked 13th and 20th respectively among Nigeria’s global export partners.
Mrs Ayeni further said focus will remain on capacity building for exporters, improving value addition, and expanding market access through collaborations with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).