Nigeria’s exports of raw materials surged by 106% year-on-year to N3.84 trillion in the first half of 2026, driven by a sharp increase in shipments recorded in the second quarter.

An analysis of the Q1 and Q2 2026 Foreign Trade Statistics reports released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that raw materials exports rose from N1.86 trillion in the first half of 2025 to N3.84 trillion in H1 2026.

The increase was supported by growth across both quarters, with exports rising to N2.31 trillion in Q2 2026 from N819.72 billion in Q2 2025.

Q1 exports also increased to N1.53 trillion from N1.04 trillion a year earlier.

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What the data is saying

The Q2 figure represents the stronger part of the half-year performance, accounting for about 60% of total raw materials exports in H1 2026.

  • Quarter-on-quarter, exports increased by about 50.3% from N1.53 trillion in Q1 to N2.31 trillion in Q2, indicating a significant acceleration in the value of raw materials shipped out of the country.
  • The surge comes as Nigeria continues to grapple with the limited domestic processing of its agricultural and mineral resources.

Higher raw material exports can increase foreign exchange earnings, but the absence of sufficient local processing means the economy may capture less value from those resources.

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The latest export trend comes against longstanding concerns over Nigeria’s dependence on imported raw materials and its limited capacity to process locally available resources.

  • In August 2025, the Director General of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Professor Nnanyelugo Ike-Muonso, said Nigeria needed to reduce its reliance on imported raw materials by at least 60% over five years to reposition the economy as an industrial powerhouse.
  • Economists have also renewed calls for greater domestic processing amid disruptions in global supply chains and higher import costs linked to geopolitical tensions.

The chief economist at SPM Professionals, Dr. Paul Alaje, said the government should identify states with strong agricultural and mineral production potential, map their resources and channel investment into improving productivity.

He argued that high financing costs remain a major obstacle to developing industries that can process raw materials locally.

  • “Adding value to raw materials must be a government-supported initiative, but driven by the private sector,” Alaje said.

Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, said greater value addition would provide multiple benefits, including job creation, lower foreign exchange pressures and an improvement in Nigeria’s balance of payments position.

What you should know

The sharp increase in raw materials exports highlights Nigeria’s growing participation in international commodity markets, but it also underscores the opportunity to capture more value domestically.

  • Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria’s total merchandise trade rose to N41.44 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, representing a 5.61% increase from the N39.24 trillion recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2025.
  • Nigeria’s exports increased by 18.77% year-on-year from N22.75 trillion in Q2 2025 and rose 27.64% quarter-on-quarter from N21.17 trillion in Q1 2026.

Nairametrics earlier reported that Nigeria’s trade sector contributed 17.89% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2026.