Nigeria’s non-oil exports surged to a record N9.2 trillion in the first nine months of 2025, rising 48% from N6.2 trillion recorded over the same period in 2024, according to Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The sharp increase underscores how the 2023 naira devaluation continues to reshape Nigeria’s external trade profile, lifting export revenues in naira terms and improving the competitiveness of non-oil products in global markets.
While the acceleration marks the strongest non-oil export performance since at least 2015, when the NBS began publishing consistent trade series, the data also highlights the structural limits of diversification, with oil and gas still dominating the country’s export earnings.
Non-oil exports have expanded rapidly since the currency adjustment of mid-2023, which weakened the naira and improved pricing for Nigerian exporters abroad.
Total non-oil exports stood at just N3.1 trillion for the whole of 2023, meaning the first nine months of 2025 alone have already tripled the value recorded in the year the currency was first devalued.
What the data is saying
In Q3 2025, Nigeria recorded N2.996 trillion in non-oil exports, up from N2.5 trillion in the same quarter of 2024. This compares with N683 billion in Q3 2023 and N438 billion in Q3 2022, underscoring the scale of the shift over a short period.
Monthly exports approach N1 trillion
A closer look at the monthly figures reveals how sharply export values have repriced:
- July 2025: N1.23 trillion
- August 2025: N0.88 trillion
- September 2025: N0.89 trillion
On average, Nigeria is now generating close to N1 trillion per month in non-oil export receipts, a level that was previously unattainable under the old exchange rate regime.
The NBS trade data is published in naira terms, meaning currency depreciation mechanically inflates export values even when export volumes do not rise proportionately.
Oil still dominates the export structure
Despite the record figures, non-oil exports remain structurally subordinate within Nigeria’s broader export mix.
Non-oil goods accounted for roughly 12–14% of total exports on a monthly basis in Q3 2025, with crude oil, refined petroleum products and gas continuing to dominate export receipts.
This leaves Nigeria’s foreign exchange inflows highly exposed to oil price volatility, suggesting that while non-oil exports are growing, they are not yet transformational for the balance of payments.
What is driving non-oil export growth?
The composition of non-oil exports reveals a concentration in capital-intensive and energy-linked industries, rather than broad-based manufacturing.
According to the NBS data:
- Products of the chemical and allied industries generated N845 billion in Q3 2025
- Prepared foodstuffs, beverages, spirits and tobacco contributed N692 billion
- Vehicles, aircraft and parts; vessels and floating structures accounted for N550.8 billion
- Vegetable products recorded N214.5 billion
A sectoral breakdown shows:
- Agricultural exports: N786.6 billion
- Raw material exports: N1.0 trillion
- Solid mineral exports: N100.8 billion
Within non-oil categories, manufactured goods exports reached N2.0 trillion in Q3 2025, while energy-related manufactured exports stood at about N91 billion.
An uneven manufacturing story
The data also reveals a persistent imbalance in Nigeria’s trade structure.
While N2 trillion worth of manufactured goods were exported in the quarter, Nigeria spent N4.75 trillion importing manufactured products over the same period, highlighting the country’s continued dependence on foreign industrial output.
Much of Nigeria’s manufactured exports are concentrated in fertilisers, refined petroleum products, petrochemicals and heavy industrial items, rather than light manufacturing or consumer goods, limiting the breadth of diversification.
The surge in non-oil exports confirms that Nigeria’s exporters are responding to improved price incentives following the naira adjustment.
Nigeria also appears to be demonstrating the capacity to generate trillion-naira monthly export receipts outside oil under the right conditions.
The rise of non oil exports is commendable, but it did not start in 2023 devaluation.
Non oil exports has been rising every year since 2015 to date.
Since about 2019 or so, non oil export has recorded an all time high every year except 2023 when it declined slightly.