The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has attributed the sharp decline in manufacturing export earnings to high interest rates, warning that the sector’s viability is under pressure.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), manufacturing exports fell from N1.04tn in Q3 2024 to N294.43bn in Q1 2025, marking a significant N746.38bn drop. Compared to the previous quarter (Q4 2024), export value declined by 40.43% from N494.22bn.
The Director-General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said the sustained high monetary policy rate of 27.5% has made access to financing difficult for manufacturers. He noted that while inflation and exchange rate fluctuations have shown signs of moderation, overall costs remain elevated, limiting sectoral growth.
Despite Nigeria’s trade surplus of N5.17tn in Q1 2025, the manufacturing sector continues to experience a downward trend. Though manufacturing exports grew year-on-year by 9.58% from N268.70bn in Q1 2024, they have steadily declined since a 52.48% drop recorded in Q4 2024.
Earlier in May, MAN described the manufacturing sector’s performance as sub-optimal, citing persistent challenges such as unstable exchange rates, poor power supply, high inflation, insecurity, multiple regulations, poor access to credit, infrastructure deficits, high logistics costs, unfavourable trade policies, and low patronage.
The association reported that 767 manufacturing companies closed operations in 2023, with over 18,000 job losses in 2024.
NBS data also showed that Nigeria’s total exports in Q1 2025 grew by 7.42% year-on-year to N20.59tn, and by 2.92% quarter-on-quarter from N20.01tn in Q4 2024. Non-oil exports stood at N3.17tn, accounting for 15.38% of total exports—up from 14.20% (N2.84tn) in the previous quarter.
The value of imported manufactured goods in Q1 2025 was N7.51tn, down 11.35% from N8.47tn in Q4 2024, but up 30.90% year-on-year from N5.74tn. Manufactured goods accounted for N7.80tn or 21.67% of total trade in Q1 2025, compared to N8.97tn or 24.50% in Q4 2024.
The top manufactured export in Q1 2025 was unwrought aluminium alloys, shipped to Japan and China with values of N33.73bn and N4.25bn respectively. Other major exports included dredgers to Spain (N37.23bn), and cathodes to Japan and South Korea (N11.34bn and N8.59bn).
Most manufactured exports went to Asia (N103.34bn), followed by Africa (N83.13bn) and Europe (N75.71bn).
On the import side, top manufactured goods included motorcycles from India (N146.11bn), communication equipment from China (N120.15bn) and the U.S. (N12.06bn), polypropylene from Saudi Arabia (N83.31bn), and herbicides from China and India (N132.81bn and N2.71bn respectively).