Nigeria’s Non-Oil Exports Break Records, Hitting ₦9.2 Trillion in Nine Months

 Nigeria’s non-oil exports climbed to ₦9.2 trillion in the first nine months of 2025, a 48 percent increase from the ₦6.2 trillion recorded over the same period in 2024, according to Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The performance represents the strongest showing for non-oil exports since the agency began publishing consistent trade data in 2015.

The surge reflects the continuing impact of the mid-2023 naira devaluation, which has reshaped Nigeria’s external trade dynamics. A weaker currency has made Nigerian goods more competitively priced in international markets while significantly lifting export earnings when measured in naira terms.

To put the numbers in context, Nigeria generated just ₦3.1 trillion from non-oil exports in the entire year of 2023, when the currency adjustment first took effect. By comparison, the first nine months of 2025 alone have already tripled that figure, underscoring how sharply export values have been repriced.

Quarterly data highlights the pace of change. In Q3 2025, non-oil exports reached ₦2.996 trillion, up from ₦2.5 trillion in the same quarter of 2024. This compares with ₦683 billion in Q3 2023 and ₦438 billion in Q3 2022, illustrating how rapidly the trade profile has shifted over a relatively short period.

Monthly figures show a similar pattern. Non-oil exports stood at ₦1.23 trillion in July 2025, ₦880 billion in August, and ₦890 billion in September. On average, Nigeria is now generating close to ₦1 trillion per month in non-oil export receipts, a level that was largely unattainable under the previous exchange-rate regime.

However, NBS trade data is reported in naira, meaning currency depreciation can mechanically inflate export values even when export volumes do not increase at the same pace. As a result, the headline growth reflects both improved competitiveness and exchange-rate effects.

Despite the record performance, non-oil exports remain a relatively small component of Nigeria’s overall export structure. In Q3 2025, non-oil goods accounted for roughly 12 to 14 percent of total monthly exports, with crude oil, refined petroleum products, and gas continuing to dominate foreign exchange inflows. This leaves the economy highly exposed to oil price volatility, suggesting that non-oil exports, while growing, are not yet transformative for the balance of payments.

The composition of non-oil exports points to growth concentrated in capital-intensive and energy-linked sectors rather than broad-based manufacturing. In Q3 2025, products of the chemical and allied industries generated ₦845 billion, prepared foodstuffs, beverages, spirits, and tobacco contributed ₦692 billion, vehicles, aircraft, vessels, and related parts accounted for ₦550.8 billion, and vegetable products recorded ₦214.5 billion. By category, agricultural exports stood at ₦786.6 billion, raw material exports at ₦1.0 trillion, and solid mineral exports at ₦100.8 billion. Manufactured non-oil goods reached ₦2.0 trillion in the quarter, while energy-related manufactured exports were about ₦91 billion.

The data also reveals a persistent imbalance in Nigeria’s trade structure. While ₦2 trillion worth of manufactured goods were exported in Q3 2025, the country imported ₦4.75 trillion worth of manufactured products over the same period. This gap highlights Nigeria’s continued dependence on foreign industrial output. Most manufactured exports remain concentrated in fertilizers, refined petroleum products, petrochemicals, and other heavy industrial items rather than light manufacturing or consumer goods, limiting the breadth of diversification.

Overall, the surge in non-oil exports confirms that Nigerian exporters are responding to stronger price incentives following the naira adjustment and that the economy can generate trillion-naira monthly export receipts outside oil under the right conditions. Still, until non-oil exports command a much larger share of total exports and expand into more labour-intensive manufacturing, oil will continue to define Nigeria’s external economic fortunes.