Nigeria Spends ₦1.4tn on Food, Beverage Imports in Three Months

News in brief:

-Nigeria imported prepared foodstuffs, beverages and vegetable products worth ₦1.4 trillion between July and September 2025.

-NBS data highlights sustained dependence on food imports despite government pledges to boost local production.

A review of Nigeria’s foreign trade statistics for the third quarter of 2025 has shown sustained heavy spending on food-related imports, with prepared foodstuffs, beverages and vegetable products accounting for a significant share of goods brought into the country.

Data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that prepared foodstuffs, beverages, spirits, and vinegar valued at ₦748 billion were imported between July and September 2025. Within the same three-month period, vegetable products worth ₦697 billion were also imported, underscoring Nigeria’s continued reliance on foreign food supplies despite repeated government commitments to boost domestic production.

In total, ₦1.4 trillion was spent importing prepared foodstuffs, beverages and vegetable products during the period under review, according to the NBS.

Other Major Imports in the Quarter

The data showed that beyond processed food-related items, live animals and animal products valued at ₦382 billion were imported during the quarter, while animal and vegetable fats and oils accounted for ₦140 billion.

Plastics and rubber products worth ₦933 billion were also imported during the period. Vehicles, aircraft and related parts were brought into the country for ₦1.6 trillion, while boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances topped the import chart with imports valued at ₦2.5 trillion. Textile materials and textile articles worth ₦248.3 billion were imported in the third quarter of 2025.

Arms and Ammunition Imports Raise Concerns

Separately, a review of foreign trade statistics showed that Nigeria spent a total of ₦827.1 billion on arms and ammunition imports between 2020 and September 2025, covering a period of five years and nine months.

According to the data, spending on arms and ammunition stood at ₦29.2 billion in 2020 and rose to ₦72.4 billion in 2021, before declining to ₦28.2 billion in 2022. Imports increased sharply to ₦127.1 billion in 2023 and surged further to ₦520 billion in 2024. Between January and September 2025, arms and ammunition imports amounted to ₦50.2 billion.

The development comes amid growing concerns over the proliferation of arms in Nigeria. In June 2025, SaharaReporters reported that the United States raised concerns over the increasing spread of weapons among violent extremist groups in the country following its withdrawal from the Niger Republic.