Top products exported during the first half of 2024 include cocoa, beans, urea and sesame.

The Executive Director of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Nonye Ayeni, has put the nation’s total exports for the first half of 2024 at 2.7 billion dollars, showing an increase of 2.6 per cent of the total value of exports compared to the first half of 2023.

Ayeni, who gave the breakdown at a meeting in Abuja, on Wednesday, explained that 211 products were exported during the period.

She said that the top products exported during the period under review include cocoa, beans, urea and sesame.

Top three export destinations for Nigeria, according to Ayeni, include Malaysia, Netherlands and Brazil.

Recent data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that exports of agricultural goods from Nigeria to other countries increased by 123 per cent over the value recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023 (₦463.97bn), and also by 270 per cent when compared to the value recorded in Q1, 2023 (₦279.64 billion).

According to the NBS, most of the agricultural products were exported to Asia, valued at ₦572bn, followed by exports to Europe with ₦366bn.

The report added that export of agricultural products was dominated by sesamum seeds valued at ₦247.75bn, superior quality cocoa beans with ₦231bn and standard quality cocoa beans with₦140bn.