By Felix Khanoba
The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) says the country earned $3.225 billion from non-oil exports in the first six months of 2025.
NEPC Director-General, Mrs. Nonye Ayeni, disclosed this in Abuja on Sunday while presenting the 2025 Half-Year Non-Oil Export Performance Report. She said the document provided a detailed account of the council’s progress, challenges, and future outlook.
“I am pleased to inform you that non-oil products exported in the first half of 2025 were valued at 3.225 billion dollars. This shows an increase of 19.59 per cent as against the sum of 2.696 billion dollars recorded for the first half of the year 2024. The volume also increased to 4.04 million metric tonnes, compared to the 3.83 million metric tonnes for the same period of 2024,” Ayeni said.
She recalled that in April, first-quarter exports alone were valued at $1.791 billion — up 24.75 per cent from the $1.436 billion recorded in Q1 2024 — with volumes rising to 2.416 million metric tonnes, a 24.3 per cent increase from 1.937 million metric tonnes a year earlier.
According to Ayeni, 236 different products were shipped abroad in the first half of 2025, up 16.83 per cent from the 202 products recorded during the same period in 2024. The exports ranged from agricultural goods and extractive resources to manufactured and semi-processed items.
“However, it is pertinent to state that the non-oil export of Nigerian products is gradually diversifying from traditional agriculture exports to semi-manufactured products,” she added.
Cocoa beans led the top 20 export items, accounting for 34.88 per cent of the total export value, up from 23.18 per cent in 2024. Urea and fertiliser followed, with a 17.65 per cent share, compared to 13.78 per cent last year.
Ayeni credited the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with providing broader market access and tariff relief for Nigerian exporters. She also highlighted NEPC initiatives in capacity building, packaging, labelling, export documentation, certification, and market linkage programmes.
“The growth in value-added exports improved earnings, as more exporters are now imbibing the culture of value addition to their products. The rising demand from emerging economies, such as India, Brazil, Vietnam and Africa, have, however, increased Nigeria’s non-oil export volumes and diversity,” she said.
The NEPC boss reaffirmed the council’s commitment to working with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and other partners to sustain momentum, aligning efforts with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
