Nigeria agriculture: Production, trade & prices

3.1

Food crops

The NAERLS wet-season surveys estimated maize production at 11.22 million tonnes in 2024 and 11.44 million tonnes in 2025, rice at 9.13 and 9.37 million tonnes and sorghum at 6.42 and 6.50 million tonnes¹². Cassava was estimated at 65.39 million tonnes and yams at 55.78 million tonnes in 2025². Rice production on FAOSTAT data, which uses the official figures, rose from 4.47 million tonnes in 2010 to 9.13 million tonnes in 2024³.

FAOSTAT values for maize, sorghum, millet, groundnuts, soya beans, cowpeas, sesame and cocoa in 2022–2024 are FAO estimates, imputations or figures from external organisations³. The household-sector NASS 2022/2023 uses a different method and its quantities are not comparable with NAERLS or FAOSTAT⁴.

Cereal production

Million tonnes, 2010–2024 (FAOSTAT)

Year	Maize (Mt)	Rice (paddy) (Mt)	Sorghum (Mt)	Millet (Mt)
2010	7.68	4.47	7.14	5.17
2011	8.88	4.61	5.69	1.27
2012	8.69	5.43	5.84	1.28
2013	8.42	5.82	5.3	0.91
2014	10.79	6.69	6.88	1.85
2015	9.54	7.57	7.01	1.81
2016	10.53	7.81	7.56	1.49
2017	10.63	7.84	6.94	1.53
2018	10.93	8.4	6.8	1.88
2019	12.6	8.44	6.67	1.93
2020	12.4	8.17	6.59	1.91
2021	12.74	8.34	6.73	1.93
2022	12.95	8.5	6.81	1.94
2023	11.05	8.9	6.4	1.56
2024	11.16	9.13	6.5	1.55

Source: FAOSTAT — FAOSTAT marks the maize, sorghum and millet values for 2022–2024 as figures from an external organisation (flag X). Rice values are official (flag A) and equal the NAERLS estimates for 2023 and 2024¹.

Cassava and yam production

Million tonnes, 2010–2024 (FAOSTAT)

Year	Cassava (Mt)	Yams (Mt)
2010	42.53	37.33
2011	46.19	33.13
2012	50.95	32.32
2013	47.41	35.62
2014	54.32	43.71
2015	57.41	44.1
2016	60.53	48.98
2017	61.35	49.52
2018	65.35	55.36
2019	56.97	52.91
2020	55.57	56.35
2021	58.24	59.88
2022	61.36	61.1
2023	62.75	62.38
2024	62.62	65.32

Source: FAOSTAT · NAERLS — FAOSTAT values for 2022–2024 are imputed or estimated (flags I and E). NAERLS estimates cassava at 64.36 Mt and yams at 54.58 Mt in 2024¹.

Crop production estimates, 2024 and 2025 wet seasons

NAERLS Agricultural Performance Survey, million tonnes

Crop	2024 (Mt)	2025 (Mt)
Maize	11.22	11.44
Rice	9.13	9.37
Sorghum	6.42	6.5
Groundnut	5.08	5.24
Cowpea	4.09	4.28
Millet	1.55	1.55
Soybean	0.95	0.95
Sesame	0.51	0.54

Source: NAERLS — The 2025 values were read from slide 16 of the NAERLS presentation of 7 October 2025, whose table was extracted out of order and matched to the 2024 report, and the full 2025 report was not found². Cassava was estimated at 65.39 Mt and yams at 55.78 Mt in 2025.

Maize area and yield

Area harvested (million ha) and yield (t/ha), 2010–2024 (FAOSTAT)

Year	Area harvested (million ha) (million ha / t per ha)	Yield (t/ha) (million ha / t per ha)
2010	4.15	1.85
2011	5.46	1.63
2012	5.75	1.51
2013	5.76	1.46
2014	6.35	1.7
2015	5.55	1.72
2016	5.9	1.78
2017	6.39	1.66
2018	6.54	1.67
2019	6.78	1.86
2020	6.05	2.05
2021	6.21	2.05
2022	5.8	2.23
2023	5.7	1.94
2024	5.5	2.03

Source: FAOSTAT · NBS — Values for 2022–2024 come from an external organisation. The household-sector NASS 2022/2023 records 12.26 million hectares of maize harvested in the major season, a different exercise that is not comparable with FAOSTAT⁴.

3.2

Export crops, legumes and oilseeds

FAOSTAT puts cocoa production at 350,000 tonnes and sesame at 450,000 tonnes in 2024, both figures from an external organisation, and no official national cocoa series was found³. In NBS trade data superior quality cocoa beans were the largest agricultural export in Q4 2025 (NGN 586.46 billion) and Q1 2026 (NGN 596.90 billion), and cashew nuts in shell in Q2 2026 (NGN 268.62 billion)⁵⁶⁷. Cowpea production was 4.29 million tonnes in 2024 on FAO imputations, which would rank Nigeria first in the world³.

Cocoa and sesame production

Thousand tonnes, 2010–2024 (FAOSTAT)

Year	Cocoa beans (kt)	Sesame seed (kt)
2010	399.2	149.4
2011	391	229.2
2012	383	994.8
2013	367	585
2014	329.9	435
2015	302.1	432.9
2016	298	593.6
2017	250	632.3
2018	270	522.7
2019	250	523.4
2020	357.6	195.4
2021	280	440
2022	300	420
2023	350	450
2024	350	450

Source: FAOSTAT — Cocoa values for 2011–2013, 2017–2019 and 2021–2024 and sesame values for 2021–2024 come from an external organisation (flag X). No official national cocoa production series was found.

Cowpea, groundnut and soybean production

Million tonnes, 2010–2024 (FAOSTAT)

Year	Cowpeas (Mt)	Groundnuts (Mt)	Soya beans (Mt)
2010	3.37	3.8	0.37
2011	1.64	2.96	0.49
2012	5.15	3.31	0.65
2013	4.63	2.47	0.52
2014	2.14	3.4	0.62
2015	2.31	3.47	0.59
2016	3.75	4.36	0.94
2017	3.87	4.52	0.99
2018	4.01	4.6	1.05
2019	4.06	4.36	1.05
2020	4.13	4.23	1.26
2021	4.21	4.23	1.17
2022	4.21	4.28	1.32
2023	4.29	4.3	1.5
2024	4.29	4.3	1.15

Source: FAOSTAT — Cowpea values for 2022–2024 are FAO imputations and groundnut and soybean values for 2022–2024 come from an external organisation.

Production of selected crops, two sources

Crop	FAOSTAT 2024 (t)	FAOSTAT flag	NAERLS 2024 (t)	NAERLS 2025 (t)
Yams	65,322,032	E	54,577,973	55,784,099
Cassava	62,624,946	E	64,361,225	65,385,978
Maize	11,164,000	X	11,216,837	11,441,215
Rice	9,129,900	A	9,129,908	9,372,329
Sorghum	6,500,000	X	6,416,975	6,501,048
Groundnuts	4,300,000	X	5,084,549	5,241,016
Cowpeas	4,287,631	I	4,093,945	4,284,264
Millet	1,550,000	X	1,546,293	1,548,409
Soya beans	1,150,000	X	947,952	951,703
Sesame	450,000	X	508,921	536,827
Cocoa beans	350,000	X	–	–

Source: FAOSTAT · NAERLS — The FAOSTAT flags are A for an official figure, E for an estimate, I for an imputation and X for a figure from an external organisation. NAERLS values are wet-season survey estimates rounded to the tonne, with the 2025 values from the presentation of October 2025.

Leading agricultural export products as listed by NBS

Product	Q4 2025 (NGN bn)	Q1 2026 (NGN bn)	Q2 2026 (NGN bn)
Superior quality cocoa beans	586.46	596.90	58.82
Standard quality cocoa beans	292.16	–	154.31
Sesame seeds	201.13	153.78	96.03
Cashew nuts in shell	–	119.76	268.62
Soya beans	47.48	129.27	50.22
Agricultural exports, total	1,323.06	1,172.37	802.99

Source: NBS — A dash means the product was not among the leading items listed by NBS for the quarter. NBS classifies urea exports as raw materials, not agriculture.

3.3

Livestock and fish

FAOSTAT estimates 91.0 million goats, 52.1 million sheep and 20.9 million cattle in 2024, all imputed values³. The 2022 census household listing counted 124.1 million goats, 64.0 million sheep and 58.5 million cattle kept by agricultural households, a different exercise from the FAOSTAT series⁸. Livestock grew by 0.08% in real terms in 2025 and contracted by 2.14% in 2024⁹. Fish production was 855.3 thousand tonnes from capture and 258.2 thousand tonnes from aquaculture in 2024¹⁰.

Livestock numbers

Million head, 2010–2024 (FAOSTAT)

Year	Goats (million head)	Sheep (million head)	Cattle (million head)
2010	56.52	35.52	16.58
2011	67.29	38.38	19.04
2012	68.97	39.34	19.21
2013	70.7	40.32	19.37
2014	71.96	41.28	19.75
2015	72.53	41.63	20.18
2016	76.14	43.42	19.88
2017	78.04	44.5	20.06
2018	79.89	45.61	20.24
2019	81.88	46.77	20.4
2020	84.04	47.93	20.59
2021	86.14	49.12	20.76
2022	88.04	50.31	20.86
2023	89.54	51.21	20.9
2024	90.97	52.14	20.94

Source: FAOSTAT · NBS — FAOSTAT values for 2022–2024 are imputed (flag I). The NASC 2022 household listing counted 58.49 million cattle, 124.07 million goats and 63.97 million sheep, a census of agricultural households that is not comparable with the FAOSTAT series⁸.

Fish production

Capture and aquaculture, thousand tonnes live weight, 2010–2024

Year	Capture (kt)	Aquaculture (kt)
2010	617	200.5
2011	635.5	221.1
2012	668.8	253.9
2013	721.4	278.7
2014	759.8	313.2
2015	710.3	316.7
2016	734.7	306.8
2017	916.3	296.2
2018	878.2	291.3
2019	825	289.5
2020	783.1	261.7
2021	805.2	275.6
2022	784.1	259.1
2023	799.6	258.8
2024	855.3	258.2

Source: FAO FishStat — Own sums of species in the FAO FishStat 2026.1 release.

1^st

Yams

65.3 Mt world production rank, 2024, FAO estimate³

1^st

Cassava

62.6 Mt world production rank, 2024, FAO estimate³

2^nd

Sorghum

6.50 Mt world production rank, 2024, external figure³

3^rd

Goats

91.0 million world rank by number, 2024, FAO imputation³

Nigeria in world production, 2024

Product	Rank	Countries	Quantity	World share (%)	FAOSTAT flag
Yams	1	59	65.3 million t	70.7	E
Cassava	1	97	62.6 million t	18.3	E
Cowpeas, dry	1	41	4.29 million t	42.4	I
Sorghum	2	107	6.50 million t	10.1	X
Ginger	2	43	768,922 t	15.7	I
Groundnuts	3	108	4.30 million t	7.5	X
Goats	3	181	91.0 million head	7.7	I
Sesame	4	69	450,000 t	6.7	X
Cocoa beans	5	57	350,000 t	6.7	X

Source: FAOSTAT — Own ranking among countries reporting production above zero, excluding regional aggregates and the China total. All the Nigerian values in this table are FAO estimates, imputations or figures from an external organisation, not official national data.

Livestock, two sources

Animal	FAOSTAT 2024 (head)	NASC 2022 household listing (head)	Households raising the animal, NASC 2022 ('000)
Goats	90,970,883	124,072,340	16,590.18
Sheep	52,136,324	63,965,345	8,797.85
Cattle	20,943,448	58,494,029	6,435.71
Chickens	241,700,000	613,826,636	16,690.97

Source: FAOSTAT · NBS — FAOSTAT 2024 values are imputed. NASC values are published in thousand head to three decimals and are shown here in head. The two sources differ and should not be combined.

3.4

Trade

The map shows where Nigeria's agri-food products go and where they come from. In 2025 Nigeria reported US$3,677.4 million of agri-food exports and US$5,591.5 million of imports¹¹. The Netherlands was the largest buyer, at US$1,066.2 million, 94% of it cocoa (own calculation), followed by Belgium (US$449.2 million), Germany (US$340.6 million) and Viet Nam (US$339.7 million, 96% of it fruit and nuts, own calculation)¹¹. EU-27 members took 55.0% of exports and the ECOWAS member states 2.2% (own calculations)¹¹.

On the import side Brazil supplied US$886.1 million, 85.6% of it sugar, and Russia, the United States, Canada and Lithuania together supplied 63.9% of the imported cereals (own calculations)¹¹. Exports grew from US$1.44 billion in 2015 to US$3.68 billion in 2025, with cocoa exports rising from US$815.0 million in 2023 to US$2,368.3 million in 2025, while imports peaked at US$8.40 billion in 2020¹². On World Bank data food made up 6.44% of merchandise exports and 12.27% of merchandise imports in 2025¹³. Nigeria ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement on 3 December 2020¹⁴.

Agri-food trade partners, 2025

Exports and imports of HS chapters 01–24 by partner country, US$ million (UN Comtrade, as reported by Nigeria)

Source: UN Comtrade — HS chapters 01–24 (live animals to tobacco). Partner values are as reported by Nigeria for 2025, the latest full year reported. Small territories without a shape on the 1:110m world map appear only in the ranked list.

Where agri-food exports go

Share of agri-food exports (HS 01–24), 2025

55%

42.8%

EU-27 · 55 %ECOWAS member states · 2.2 %Rest of the world · 42.8 %

Source: UN Comtrade — Own calculation from UN Comtrade partner data. ECOWAS counts the eleven other members after the withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in January 2025, which took a further 1.4%. The Netherlands alone took 29.0%.

Agri-food exports and imports

HS chapters 01–24, US$ billion, 2015–2025

Year	Exports (US$ bn)	Imports (US$ bn)
2015	1.44	5.9
2016	0.72	4.85
2017	0.83	5.29
2018	1.25	4.88
2019	0.98	4.94
2020	1.06	8.4
2021	1.58	7.66
2022	1.79	7.1
2023	2.63	7.09
2024	3.24	4.69
2025	3.68	5.59

Source: UN Comtrade — Own sums of the chapters reported by Nigeria to UN Comtrade. Nigeria imported more agri-food products than it exported in every year 2015–2025.

Cocoa exports and cereal and sugar imports

HS chapters 18 (exports), 10 and 17 (imports), US$ million, 2015–2025

Year	Cocoa exports (18) (US$ m)	Cereal imports (10) (US$ m)	Sugar imports (17) (US$ m)
2015	605.8	1,752.1	670.8
2016	292.7	1,289.5	854.9
2017	256.1	1,556.6	667.6
2018	374.5	1,424.1	613.4
2019	311.3	1,302	545.5
2020	350.2	2,330.5	872.7
2021	624.3	2,737.6	980.1
2022	680.6	2,276.7	932.4
2023	815	2,190.9	1,117.6
2024	1,922.7	1,211.7	698.6
2025	2,368.3	1,405.4	849.3

Source: UN Comtrade — As reported by Nigeria to UN Comtrade.

Agri-food exports by product group

Largest HS chapters, US$ million, 2025

	Exports (US$ m)
18 Cocoa & products	2,368.3
08 Fruit & nuts	533.9
12 Oilseeds	404.5
24 Tobacco	93.3
03 Fish & seafood	58.7
06 Live plants & flowers	57.1
15 Fats & oils	41.3
21 Miscellaneous food preparations	37.6

Source: UN Comtrade — As reported by Nigeria to UN Comtrade. Chapter 18 made up 64.4% of agri-food exports (own calculation).

Agri-food imports by product group

Largest HS chapters, US$ million, 2025

	Imports (US$ m)
10 Cereals	1,405.4
17 Sugar & confectionery	849.3
03 Fish & seafood	783.5
15 Fats & oils	412.8
19 Cereal, flour & bakery products	352.3
04 Dairy, eggs & honey	335.3
11 Milling products	261.4
21 Miscellaneous food preparations	260.1

Source: UN Comtrade — As reported by Nigeria to UN Comtrade. Cereals and sugar together made up 40.3% of agri-food imports (own calculation).

Agricultural goods trade in naira

NBS foreign trade statistics, NGN billion, 2020–2025

Year	Agricultural exports (NGN bn)	Agricultural imports (NGN bn)
2020	321.5	1,145.1
2021	504.9	1,966.9
2022	598.2	1,865.5
2023	1,244.5	2,281.1
2024	4,439.9	3,786.6
2025	5,070.2	4,759.9

Source: NBS — NBS classification of agricultural goods, which differs from HS chapters 01–24. Agricultural goods were 6.0% of total exports in 2025. The naira values reflect the depreciation of 2023–2024 as well as volumes.

Largest agri-food trading partners (by value), 2025

Rank	Export partner	US$ m	Import partner	US$ m
1	Netherlands	1,066.2	Brazil	886.1
2	Belgium	449.2	China	513.3
3	Germany	340.6	United States	438.0
4	Viet Nam	339.7	Russia	309.2
5	India	234.1	Argentina	256.9
6	United States	188.1	Canada	200.1
7	Malaysia	177.7	Netherlands	194.9
8	China	124.2	India	185.9
9	Indonesia	95.5	Indonesia	170.8
10	Türkiye	77.3	Lithuania	160.3

Source: UN Comtrade — HS chapters 01–24 as reported by Nigeria. Total exports US$3,677.4 million, imports US$5,591.5 million.

3.5

Prices

Food inflation on the rebased CPI was 29.63% in January 2025 and 10.84% in December 2025, and rose again to 19.59% in September 2026, when headline inflation was 14.63%¹⁵. Annual average inflation was 33.24% in 2024 on the old base and 23.01% in 2025 on the new base¹⁶¹⁷. Between May 2025 and May 2026 the national average price of white maize fell by 32.94% to NGN 815.83 per kg and of brown beans by 43.61%, while local rice fell by 9.06%¹⁸. A healthy diet cost NGN 1,589 per adult per day in April 2026¹⁹.

Headline and food inflation on the 2024 base

Year-on-year % change of the CPI (2024 = 100), selected months, January 2025–September 2026

Month	Headline (%)	Food (%)
Jan 2025	27.61	29.63
Jun 2025	25.29	25.41
Sep 2025	20.98	20.16
Dec 2025	15.15	10.84
Jan 2026	15.1	8.89
Mar 2026	15.38	14.31
Jun 2026	15.91	17.52
Jul 2026	15.43	20.31
Aug 2026	15.39	19.57
Sep 2026	14.63	19.59

Source: NBS — Values as printed in the September 2026 workbook. NBS has revised the 2025 rates since first publication, for example January 2025 was first published as 24.48%²⁰. The weight of food fell from 51.8% to 40.0% with the rebasing.

Retail prices of selected foods

National average, NGN per kg, May 2025 and May 2026

Item	May 2025 (NGN per kg)	May 2026 (NGN per kg)
Local rice	2,095.29	1,905.43
Imported rice	2,604.69	2,245.7
White maize	1,216.55	815.83
Brown beans	2,385.15	1,344.93
White garri	1,341.79	813.24
Yam tuber	2,375.4	2,347.09
Tomatoes	1,392.71	1,560.56
Onions	1,607.38	1,180.01

Source: NBS — NBS Selected Food Price Watch. Local rice is short-grained and imported rice long-grained.

Consumer price inflation, annual average

Twelve-month average change of the CPI, %, 2010–2025

Year	CPI inflation (%)
2010	13.74
2011	10.83
2012	12.22
2013	8.5
2014	8.05
2015	9.01
2016	15.7
2017	16.5
2018	12.1
2019	11.4
2020	13.25
2021	16.95
2022	18.85
2023	24.66
2024	33.24
2025	23.01

Source: World Bank WDI · NBS — Values to 2024 rest on the CPI with base November 2009 and the 2025 value on the rebased CPI (2024 = 100), so 2024 and 2025 are not on the same basis. Food inflation averaged 39.12% in 2024 and 22.00% in 2025¹⁶¹⁷.

Retail food prices, national average (NGN per kg)

Item	Dec 2024	Dec 2025	May 2025	May 2026	Change May 2025–May 2026 (%)
Local rice, short-grained	1,944.40	1,845.08	2,095.29	1,905.43	−9.06
Imported rice, long-grained	2,520.78	2,201.22	2,604.69	2,245.70	−13.78
White maize grains	1,151.13	798.97	1,216.55	815.83	−32.94
Brown beans	2,501.32	1,250.11	2,385.15	1,344.93	−43.61
White garri	1,184.77	776.36	1,341.79	813.24	−39.39
Yam tuber	1,905.90	2,054.63	2,375.40	2,347.09	−1.19
Boneless beef	6,150.18	6,885.09	6,662.92	7,171.41	+7.63

Source: NBS — NBS Selected Food Price Watch. May 2026 was the latest issue in the NBS catalogue in October 2026.

Sources cited on this page

2024 Wet Season Agricultural Performance in Nigeria, National Report, December 2024 (PDF) — National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) and Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Securityverified
2025 Wet Season Agricultural Performance in Nigeria, presentation to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, 7 October 2025 (PDF slides) — National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS)verified
FAOSTAT Production: Crops and livestock products, bulk download all countries (CSV, release of 23 December 2025) — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationsverified
National Agricultural Sample Survey (NASS) 2022/2023 Report (PDF) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Q4 2025, March 2026 (PDF and tables) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Q1 2026 (PDF and tables) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Q2 2026, September 2026 (PDF and tables) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
National Agricultural Sample Census (NASC) 2022, household listing tables (Excel workbook) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report Q4 2025, February 2026 (PDF and workbook) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
Global fisheries and aquaculture production, FishStat bulk dataset GlobalProduction_2026.1.0 (CSV, March 2026) — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationsverified
UN Comtrade – Nigeria, agri-food trade (HS chapters 01–24) by partner, 2025 (public preview API, JSON) — United Nations Statistics Divisionverified
UN Comtrade – Nigeria, agri-food trade by HS chapter (01–24), world partner, 2015–2025 (public preview API, JSON) — United Nations Statistics Divisionverified
World Development Indicators – Food exports (% of merchandise exports), TX.VAL.FOOD.ZS.UN, and food imports (% of merchandise imports), TM.VAL.FOOD.ZS.UN (API, JSON) — World Bankverified
List of countries which have signed, ratified or acceded to the Agreement establishing the AfCFTA, status of 19 September 2023 (PDF) — African Union Commissionverified
Consumer Price Index September 2026 (Base Period 2024 = 100), October 2026 (PDF and workbook) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
CPI and Inflation Report December 2024 (PDF, base November 2009 = 100) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
Consumer Price Index December 2025 Report (PDF, base 2024 = 100) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
Selected Food Price Watch (May 2026), June 2026 (PDF and workbook) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
Cost of a Healthy Diet (April 2026), May 2026 (PDF and table) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
Highlights of Consumer Price Index (CPI) Rebasing, February 2025 (PDF) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified
World Development Indicators – Inflation, consumer prices (annual %), FP.CPI.TOTL.ZG (API, JSON) — World Bankverified
Selected Food Price Watch (December 2025) (PDF and workbook) — National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)verified

ⓘ

AI-assisted content, human-reviewed: This page was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by a human editor. (last review: October 2026) Despite review, errors or outdated values may remain; please verify critical figures against the linked primary sources before relying on them. Nothing here is investment, legal or financial advice.

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