Nigeria's solid mineral exports rose by N113.53 billion year-on-year to N249.70 billion in the first half of 2026, according to a Nairametrics review of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) foreign trade reports for the first and second quarters.
The first-quarter value climbed to N102.80 billion from N58.87 billion in Q1 2025, while second-quarter exports reached N146.91 billion, up from N77.31 billion a year earlier. Combined, the half-year figure of N249.70 billion compares with N136.17 billion in H1 2025, representing an increase of about 83.4%.
Second-quarter shipments accounted for roughly 59% of first-half solid mineral exports, against about 41% in the first quarter. Within the second quarter, monthly exports stood at N50.43 billion in April, N39.27 billion in May and N57.20 billion in June, with June recording the highest monthly value.
The category also expanded its share of total exports, rising to 0.49% in Q1 2026 from 0.29% in Q1 2025, and to 0.54% in Q2 2026 from 0.34% a year earlier. Despite the growth, solid minerals remain a relatively small component of Nigeria's overall export basket.
The stronger export performance coincides with federal government reforms aimed at formalising mining operations, improving revenue collection and encouraging local processing. In April, the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) assumed responsibility for collecting mineral royalties from operators following implementation of the Nigeria Tax Laws 2025.
Authorities have also introduced measures to promote local value addition and tighten licensing requirements in the sector. These policies have helped attract more than $800 million in processing projects, according to earlier reports. The sector generated more than N38 billion in revenue in 2024, compared with N6 billion in 2023, despite receiving only 18% of its N29 billion budgeted allocation that year.
The Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) previously reported that the solid minerals sector contributed N1.137 trillion to federal, state and local government revenues between 2007 and 2023. In 2025, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, said the Federal Government collected N6.96 billion in mining fees in the first quarter alone.
