By Ayomide Otitoju
Nigeria’s agricultural exports rose significantly in the first quarter of 2025, reaching ₦1.7 billion—a 65% increase from ₦1.035 billion in the same period of 2024 and up 10.63% from ₦1.54 billion in Q4 2024. This is according to the latest Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The country’s total exports for the quarter stood at ₦20.6 billion, representing a 7.42% increase year-on-year and a 2.92% rise quarter-on-quarter.
India, the Netherlands, the United States, France, and Spain remained Nigeria’s top five export destinations. The most exported commodities were crude oil, liquefied natural gas, other gaseous petroleum products, urea, and cocoa beans.
Raw material exports saw a dramatic jump to ₦1.044 billion—up by 196.12% from ₦352.75 billion in Q1 2024 and 55.65% from ₦671.12 billion in Q4 2024—reflecting growing global demand for Nigeria’s raw commodities.
However, solid mineral exports declined to ₦58.87 billion, down 7.17% from the previous year and 3.03% from the previous quarter. Manufactured goods exports totaled ₦294.43 billion, showing a 9.58% year-on-year increase but a sharp 40.43% drop from Q4 2024.
Crude oil exports, impacted by local production challenges, dropped 16.35% year-on-year to ₦12.955 billion, and fell 6.01% from Q4 2024. In contrast, exports of other oil products rose sharply by 134.24% to ₦4.475 billion from ₦1.91 billion a year earlier.
Mineral products accounted for the bulk of total exports at ₦17.555 billion (85.23%), followed by foodstuffs and beverages (₦1.429 billion or 6.94%), and chemical products (₦869.50 billion or 4.22%).
Regionally, exports to Europe topped the list at ₦8.642 billion (41.96%), followed by Asia at ₦6.753 billion (32.79%) and America at ₦3.329 billion (16.16%). Exports to Africa were valued at ₦1.854 billion (9.0%), with ECOWAS accounting for 57.58% of that total.
India remained Nigeria’s top trading partner, receiving ₦2.841 billion (13.80%) worth of exports, followed by the Netherlands (₦2.258 billion), the U.S. (₦1.543 billion), France (₦1.443 billion), and Spain (₦1.440 billion). These five countries collectively accounted for 46.25% of total exports.
Within Africa, Nigeria’s top export destinations were South Africa (₦708.69 billion), Ivory Coast (₦428.56 billion), Senegal (₦346.26 billion), Togo (₦134.80 billion), and Ghana (₦122.07 billion), collectively representing 93.91% of regional exports.
Key commodities exported to African countries included petroleum oils (₦1.487 billion), light fuel oil (₦66.32 billion), and electrical energy (₦65.65 billion). These top five products made up 90.21% of all exports to the continent.