Nigeria earned about ₦3.63tn from cocoa exports between June 2024 and June 2025, underscoring the crop’s growing importance to the country’s non-oil export earnings despite volatility in global prices.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that strong demand from European markets—particularly the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Germany—helped sustain export revenues even as international cocoa prices experienced periods of decline.
According to the NBS foreign trade reports, Nigeria exported ₦624.71bn worth of cocoa beans in the third quarter of 2024 and ₦1.2tn in the fourth quarter of the same year. Export earnings remained robust in 2025, with ₦1.32tn recorded in Q1 and ₦485.5bn in Q2, bringing total receipts over the 12 months to ₦3.63tn.
The bureau noted that cocoa exports in Q1 2025 were more than 200 per cent higher than the ₦421.78bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2024, and far above the ₦108.62bn posted in 2023, reflecting both higher export volumes and improved pricing relative to earlier years.
In Q2 2025, superior quality cocoa beans accounted for ₦277bn of exports, while standard quality beans contributed ₦208.5bn, reinforcing Nigeria’s position as a key supplier of raw cocoa to international processors.
The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) recently reported a 12 per cent rebound in cocoa prices from recent market lows, suggesting some recovery in the global market. However, concerns persist over Nigeria’s production outlook. Industry players and analysts fear the country may struggle to meet its 500,000-tonne output target for the year.
ICCO projects Nigeria’s cocoa output at about 305,000 tonnes, while global cocoa grindings for the 2024/25 season are estimated at 4.60 million tonnes. High input costs and constrained processing margins, the organisation noted, have weighed on production growth and led to a year-on-year decline in grindings.
Trade data show that the Netherlands remains Nigeria’s largest cocoa export destination, accounting for about 39.7 per cent of total cocoa bean exports at an average price of $6,141 per tonne. The Dutch market imported about $809m worth of Nigerian cocoa beans in 2024, with shipments valued at ₦344.17bn in the first quarter of 2025 alone.
The NBS also noted that the Netherlands applies zero import duty on raw cocoa beans from Nigeria, making the market particularly attractive for exporters. The country is expected to import about 112,000 tonnes of Nigerian cocoa beans valued at approximately ₦900bn ($687m). Preferential tariff rates also apply to processed cocoa products, provided exporters meet specific customs and regulatory requirements.
Global data from Statista indicate that the Netherlands and Côte d’Ivoire are the world’s two largest cocoa processors, while ICCO forecasts global cocoa production to rise by 7.8 per cent year-on-year to 4.84 million tonnes in the 2024/25 season. However, Rabobank has warned that Nigeria’s cocoa production in the 2025/26 season could decline by about 11 per cent to 305,000 tonnes, citing weaker output and a reported 22 per cent year-on-year drop in July cocoa exports.
By contrast, Ghana’s Cocoa Board has projected an 8.3 per cent increase in cocoa production in the 2025/26 season to 650,000 tonnes, highlighting intensifying regional competition.
Against this backdrop, the Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to expanding Nigeria’s cocoa industry while ensuring compliance with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which is increasingly shaping access to European markets.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agribusiness and Productivity Enhancement, Kingsley Uzoma, said cocoa remains central to Nigeria’s economic diversification drive. Speaking at the Nigeria–EU Cocoa Roundtable on EUDR compliance in Abuja, he described the crop as a strategic non-oil export.
“Cocoa is a cornerstone of Nigeria’s economic diversification agenda, accounting for about 29 per cent of agricultural exports and 5.6 per cent of non-oil exports,” Uzoma said. “Under the Renewed Hope Agenda, we are creating an enabling environment that supports sustainability, value addition and stronger public–private partnerships.”
Analysts say sustaining Nigeria’s cocoa export earnings will depend on boosting productivity, addressing high input costs, expanding local processing and meeting increasingly strict environmental and traceability standards demanded by international buyers.