Nigeria’s textile, apparel and footwear sector shrinks for 9th straight quarter

Nigeria’s textile, apparel and footwear subsector contracted for the ninth consecutive quarter in Q2 2026, declining by 1.23% year-on-year in real terms, according to the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The latest contraction extends a decline that began in Q2 2024, with the subsector recording negative real growth in every quarter since then.

The prolonged weakness has also reduced the subsector’s contribution to Nigeria’s real economic output, with its share of real GDP falling to 1.77% in Q2 2026 from 1.87% in the corresponding quarter of 2025.

What the data shows

The textile, apparel and footwear subsector entered its current contraction streak in Q2 2024, when real output declined by 1.41% year-on-year.

• The downturn deepened in the second half of 2024, with the subsector contracting by 3.09% in Q3 and 3.39% in Q4, its deepest contraction during the nine-quarter period.
• The contraction continued into 2025, although the pace eased to 1.63% in Q1 and 1.32% in Q2. It then widened again in the second half of the year, reaching 2.41% in Q3 and 2.68% in Q4.
• The subsector entered 2026 with the contraction still intact, recording a 1.22% decline in Q1 before posting a further 1.23% contraction in Q2.

This means the subsector has now recorded nine consecutive quarters of negative real growth, with every quarter since Q2 2024 registering a decline.

Nominal output also contracts

The weakness also extended to nominal growth, with textile, apparel and footwear recording a 0.49% year-on-year contraction in nominal terms in Q2 2026.

• The subsector recorded nominal output of N1.506 trillion during the quarter, compared with N1.514 trillion in Q2 2025.
• Its share of real GDP also declined over the period, falling from 1.87% in Q2 2025 to 1.77% in Q2 2026.
• The subsector’s Q2 performance placed it among the weaker-performing activities within the manufacturing sector.

While textile, apparel and footwear contracted by 1.23% in real terms, Oil Refining grew by 43.94%, Cement by 12.75%, and Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products by 7.70% during the quarter.

Get up to speed

Nigeria’s textile industry has faced years of decline, with heavy reliance on imported fabrics and persistent challenges for local manufacturers.

• In February 2025, the Federal Government said Nigeria spends about $6 billion annually on imported textiles, while industry executives said the local industry had fallen from about 250,000 workers across more than 250 companies between 1985 and 1990 to fewer than 10,000 employees.
• The pressure from imports has remained significant. Nairametrics reported in March 2026 that Nigeria’s imports of textiles and textile-related products rose to N1.06 trillion in 2025, pointing to the continued dependence on foreign textile products.
• The Federal Government and private-sector investors have also announced plans to rebuild domestic production. In June 2025, Afreximbank disclosed plans for a $5 billion integrated textile facility in Nigeria, with the project expected to employ about 250,000 workers, produce 350,000 tonnes of garments annually and potentially save Nigeria about $4.7 billion in imports.

The debate over how to revive the industry intensified in June 2026 after the Senate called for a ban on textile imports. The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), however, warned that an outright ban could disrupt the wider fashion and garment industry, which it estimated provides livelihoods for about 10 million Nigerians.

What you should know

The continued contraction in textile, apparel and footwear comes despite an improvement in manufacturers’ confidence in the second quarter of 2026.

• The latest Manufacturers’ CEOs Confidence Index (MCCI) from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) rose by 3.4 points in Q2 2026, returning above the 50-point benchmark after falling below it in the previous quarter.

According to MAN, the improvement was driven mainly by expectations about the commercial environment, with recent policy measures including the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, Nigeria Industrial Policy and the “Nigeria First” Policy contributing to improved sentiment among manufacturers.