Nigeria’s raw material exports rose 106% year-on-year to N3.84 trillion in H1 2026, despite concerns over low value addition and weak manufacturing.
Nigeria’s raw material exports rose by 106 percent year-on-year to N3.84 trillion in the first half (H1) of 2026, according to an analysis of the Q1 and Q2 2026 Foreign Trade Statistics reports by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The figure represents more than double the N1.86 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025. Growth came from both quarters: exports rose to N2.31 trillion in Q2 2026 from N819.72 billion in Q2 2025, a 181.24 percent year-on-year jump, while Q1 exports increased to N1.53 trillion from N1.04 trillion a year earlier. The Q2 figure alone accounted for about 60 percent of total raw material exports in H1,and represented a 50.3 percent quarter-on-quarter acceleration from Q1.
The increase reflects stronger export earnings from raw and largely unprocessed materials, amid demand for agricultural commodities, minerals and other primary products in international markets.
The performance also comes amid broader growth in Nigeria’s merchandise trade, with total exports reaching N27.02 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, helping push the quarter’s overall trade surplus to N12.60 trillion, more than double the N6.26 trillion recorded in Q2 2025.
Agricultural Exports Tell a Different Story.
While “raw materials” as a broad NBS export category surged, the narrower agricultural exports category told a different story. Agricultural goods brought in N1.97 trillion combined across H1 2026, N1.17 trillion in Q1 and N802.99 billion in Q2,but the Q2 figure alone represented a 36.09 percent year-on-year decline from the N1.26 trillion recorded in Q2 2025, and a 31.51 percent drop from Q1’s own total.
Among the main agricultural products exported in Q2 were cashew nuts in shell valued at N268.61 billion, standard quality cocoa beans at N154.31 billion, sesame seeds at N96.03 billion, superior quality cocoa beans at N58.82 billion, and soya beans at N50.22 billion. Other notable exports included cut flowers and flower buds at N31.43 billion, natural cocoa butter at N27.60 billion, and crude shea oil at N12.66 billion.
In Q1, the main agricultural exports included cocoa beans valued at N596.89 billion, sesame seeds at N153.77 billion, soya beans excluding seeds at N129.27 billion, cashew nuts at N119.76 billion, and flours and meals of soya beans at N53.19 billion.
Elsewhere in the non-oil export basket, solid mineral exports rose 42.91 percent quarter-on-quarter (and 90.03 percent year-on-year) to N146.91 billion in Q2, while manufactured goods exports fell sharply to N393.03 billion — a 51.10 percent decline from N803.81 billion in the prior comparison period.
Imports Move in the Opposite Direction
On imports, Nigeria’s agricultural imports declined by 8.5 percent year-on-year to N2.03 trillion in H1 2026, down from N2.22 trillion in H1 2025. Agricultural imports stood at N827.72 billion in Q1 and N1.20 trillion in Q2 — a 45.4 percent quarter-on-quarter increase, though not enough to offset the lower Q1 figure and push the half-year total above 2025’s level.
According to the data, agricultural imports accounted for 6.08 percent of Nigeria’s total imports in Q1 2026, down from 6.71 percent in the corresponding quarter of 2025. The share rose to 8.35 percent in Q2 2026, up from 7.75 percent in Q2 2025.
The Value-Addition Question
Economists reviewing the figures cautioned that the surge, while positive for export earnings, underscores Nigeria’s continued reliance on exporting largely unprocessed goods rather than higher-value finished products. Dr. Paul Alaje, chief economist at SPM Professionals, said the government should identify states with strong agricultural and mineral production potential, map their resources, and channel investment into improving productivity, noting that high financing costs remain a major obstacle to developing local processing industries.
“Adding value to raw materials must be a government-supported initiative, but driven by the private sector,” Alaje said.
Dr. Muda Yusuf, CEO of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), said greater value addition would provide multiple benefits, including job creation, lower foreign exchange pressures, and an improved balance of payments position.
The tension is visible elsewhere in the data: even as raw commodity exports climb, Nigerian manufacturers have reported roughly N1.77 trillion in unsold finished inventory sitting in domestic warehouses, with local processors citing double-digit borrowing rates, erratic power supply and high diesel costs as barriers to competing with foreign buyers for the same raw farm produce being exported.
