Nigeria’s non-oil exports surged to a record-breaking $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2025 — the highest value recorded in nearly five decades, according to the Presidency.

Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, announced the figures via his official X (formerly Twitter) handle on Monday, quoting Nonye Ayeni, Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).

“The value of non-oil exports recorded in Q1 2025 was 24.75 percent higher than the corresponding value in Q1 2024,” Ayeni said, adding that it marked “the highest year-on-year increase since the council was established 49 years ago.”

Cocoa and its derivatives led the pack, contributing 45 percent of total export revenue.

“Cocoa and its derivatives accounted for 45 percent of the lot,” Onanuga emphasized.Other top-performing products included cashew nuts, sesame seeds, aluminium and copper ingots, soybeans, and rubber.

The export boost underscores the federal government’s ongoing push to diversify Nigeria’s economy away from crude oil dependency.