KEY POINTS

• Nigeria textile exports dropped 55.25 percent to N16.55 billion in 2025 from N36.98 billion in 2024.
• Textile imports surged 46 percent to N1.06 trillion in 2025, up from N726 billion in 2024.
• MAN DG calls for a holistic revival strategy linking cotton farming to garment production.

Nigeria’s textile sector posted its worst export performance in recent years in 2025, with earnings falling more than half to N16.55 billion even as the country spent over a trillion naira on imported fabric and clothing, National Bureau of Statistics data shows.

The Nigeria textile exports imports gap, already wide going into 2025, stretched dramatically. Export earnings had climbed steadily from N10.27 billion in 2022 to N18.76 billion in 2023 before surging to N36.98 billion in 2024. The 55.25 percent reversal in 2025 erased those gains and then some. On the import side, the trajectory ran in the opposite direction without interruption. Textile imports stood at N365.46 billion in 2022, crept up to N377.47 billion in 2023, jumped to N726.18 billion in 2024, and broke the trillion-naira mark in 2025 at N1.06 trillion, a 46.11 percent annual rise.

Structural rot beneath the numbers

The Nigeria textile exports imports imbalance reflects decades of unresolved structural problems. High production costs, unreliable power supply, rampant smuggling, and competition from cheaper foreign fabrics have hollowed out a sector that once employed hundreds of thousands of Nigerians and anchored industrial towns across the North.

Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Director-General Segun Ajayi-Kadir said reviving the sector demands a strategy that spans the entire value chain, from cotton farming through spinning, weaving, and garment production, rather than piecemeal interventions at individual stages. “Collaboration must be strategic, involving manufacturers, government, financial institutions, research bodies, and development partners,” Ajayi-Kadir said.

He called on the government to tighten enforcement against smuggled and counterfeit textiles, which he described as among the biggest competitive threats facing local producers, and urged financial institutions to partner with industry on targeted revival financing.

Labour-intensive sector with untapped cultural value

Ajayi-Kadir also pointed to what Nigeria stands to gain by getting this right. The textile and leather sectors employ large numbers of workers per unit of output, generate significant export potential, and carry cultural significance through Nigeria’s distinct fabric traditions.

He argued that allowing them to deteriorate further would cost the country jobs, foreign exchange, and a piece of its industrial identity. The government, he said, must enforce policies that protect local producers, promote fair competition, and build stronger industrial clusters if the sector is to recover.