Nonye Ayeni, chief executive officer of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), says Nigeria’s non-oil exports climbed to a record $6.1bn in 2025.
Ayeni disclosed the figures on Monday in Abuja during the council’s annual progress report and 2026 non-oil export outlook briefing.
According to her, the performance represents an 11.5 per cent increase from the $5.4bn recorded in 2024, reinforcing efforts to reduce reliance on crude oil revenue.
Ayeni said figures obtained from pre-shipment inspection agencies showed that the sector had exceeded all previous benchmarks, describing the outcome as unprecedented in formal trade.
“Ladies and gentlemen, based on the records obtained from pre-shipment inspection agencies, Nigerian non-oil export performance in 2025 reached an all-time high,” he said.
“The non-oil export sector rose to approximately 6.1 billion U.S. dollars, representing a year-on-year growth of about 11.5 per cent over and above the 5.4 billion U.S. dollars recorded in 2024.
“This marks the highest non-oil export value achieved in the country for formal documented trade in the country and also from the inception of the council almost 50 years ago.
“So we have indeed beaten our own records of last year. So Nigeria has 6.1 billion U.S. dollars in terms of value for non-oil export.”
She attributed the growth to stronger performance across multiple value chains, aided by wider market access and increasing product diversification.
Ayeni said export volumes also expanded, with non-oil shipments rising to 8.02 million metric tonnes in 2025 from 7.29 million metric tonnes in 2024, representing a 10 per cent increase.
She noted that agricultural produce, processed and semi-processed goods, industrial inputs and solid minerals all contributed to the improved results, reflecting gradual progress in value addition.
“In 2025 alone, Nigeria exported a total of 281 non-oil products. This reflects our steady transition towards value-added exports and deeper integration into global value chains,” Ayeni stated.
She cautioned, however, that the figures do not fully reflect Nigeria’s export capacity, pointing to substantial informal trade across land borders.
Ayeni said the council is collaborating with the National Bureau of Statistics, the Central Bank of Nigeria and other stakeholders to formalise informal trade, improve export data and strengthen policy interventions.
She added that reforms, incentives and capacity-building programmes would be scaled up in 2026 to sustain momentum and broaden Nigeria’s non-oil export base.
The record performance comes amid renewed government efforts to boost foreign exchange earnings, stabilise the naira and reduce exposure to oil price volatility by strengthening non-oil revenues.