Nigeria's manufactured goods trade is overwhelmingly import-dependent, with imports consistently exceeding 85% since 2017

  • Imports have consistently exceeded 85% of Nigeria's manufactured goods trade since 2017.
  • In H1 2025, imports accounted for 93.3% of the total ₦16.5 trillion trade.
  • Nigeria’s export share in the manufactured goods trade was only 6.7% in H1 2025.
  • The highest export share in the past eight years was 14.8% in 2019.
  • Total manufactured goods trade grew from ₦4.9 trillion in 2017 to ₦29.1 trillion in 2024.

Nigeria’s trade in manufactured goods continues to highlight a profound structural imbalance in its industrial and trade composition.

Since 2017, the country’s manufactured goods trade has been overwhelmingly import-dependent, with imports consistently accounting for over 85% of total trade. In the first half of 2025, imports accounted for 93.3% of the total manufactured goods trade, while exports accounted for just 6.7%.

This persistent dominance of imports reveals Nigeria’s heavy reliance on foreign manufacturing to meet domestic demand, underlining the country’s limited local production and export capacity for finished goods.

Source:

National Bureau of Statistics

Period:

2017 - H1 2025
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