Key Highlights

• Nigeria's food import bill reached N7.65 trillion in 2025.
• The food import bill has more than doubled within the last four years.
• Imports include primary food products and processed items for industrial and household use.
• Structural challenges in the agricultural sector and rising domestic demand are driving the increase.
• Nigeria faces concerns about long-term food security due to this trend.

Nigeria's expenditure on imported food and beverage products surged to a staggering N7.65 trillion in 2025. This significant increase underscores the nation's escalating dependence on foreign food supplies, driven by rising domestic demand and persistent structural challenges within its agricultural sector. The figures are derived from the latest Foreign Trade Statistics report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The report clarifies that these imports encompass both primary food commodities and processed food items. These are crucial for various industrial applications, particularly within the food manufacturing sector, serving as essential inputs for production, as well as for direct household consumption. This highlights the critical role imported raw materials play in bolstering Nigeria's domestic food processing industry.

Over the past four years, Nigeria's food import expenditure has demonstrated a consistent upward trajectory. This trend directly reflects the widening disparity between the country's domestic food production capacity and its ever-increasing consumption needs. The NBS data indicates that the food import bill has more than doubled in this four-year period, raising significant concerns regarding the nation's long-term food security and its vulnerability to external supply disruptions.

This rise in food imports comes amidst a backdrop of potential challenges. Nairametrics previously reported that Nigeria could be on the verge of a severe food crisis in 2026. This projection is attributed to escalating production costs, persistent insecurity, and substantial post-harvest losses, factors that are compelling many farmers, particularly in the North-Central and North-West regions, to abandon agricultural activities.

Despite the surge in the food import bill, the NBS also reported a trade surplus of N1.71 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2025, although exports experienced a decline during the same period.