The value of Nigeria’s non-oil exports dropped by about $300 million from $4,8 billion in 2022 to $4,5bn in 2023, according to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
The executive director of NEPC, Nonye Ayeni, revealed the figures in a non-oil exporters progress report for 2023.
She said the decline is attributable to the economic slowdown experienced in 2023, in the lead-up to the Nigerian elections of that year, as well as global economic factors.
Despite the reduction in the value of exports, the volumes had increased.
“The volume of Nigeria’s non-oil exports continued to increase each year and specifically in 2023 when we recorded a volume of 6.685m metric tonnes of exportable products,” she said.
“A total of 273 different products were reported to have been exported in the period under review, ranging from manufactured, semi-processed, and solid minerals to agricultural commodities.
“This figure reflects a notable increase of approximately 28.04% compared to the preceding year.”
Pre-shipment Inspection Agents (PIA) said the top export products for 2023 were cocoa beans, sesame seed, soya beans and meal, cashew nuts and kernels, aluminium ingots and Hibiscus flowers.