Nigeria’s Cocoa Exports to US Jump to $142m in 2025

Nigeria’s cocoa bean exports to the United States rose by about 554 per cent in value in 2025, reaching $142 million from $21.7 million a year earlier, according to figures released by the United States Mission in Nigeria, highlighting the growing importance of the American market to the country’s agricultural trade.

The mission announced the figures on October 20, describing US demand for Nigerian cocoa as booming. The increase represents an additional $120.3 million in reported export value over one year, although the figures alone do not establish how much of the rise came from higher shipment volumes, changes in prices or other factors affecting trade valuation.

The reported growth comes as Nigeria seeks to reduce its dependence on crude oil earnings and strengthen non-oil exports. Cocoa is among the country’s major agricultural commodities, supporting farmers, produce merchants, transport operators and exporters, particularly in cocoa-producing areas of the southwest and south-south.

However, the reported $142 million figure differs from data published through the World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution, which draws on UN Comtrade statistics. That database records Nigeria’s 2025 exports of the broader category of cocoa and cocoa preparations to the United States at about $111.3 million, compared with approximately $39.7 million in 2024. The categories and reporting systems may not be directly comparable, so the discrepancy cannot be resolved from the published figures alone.

The distinction matters because an increase in export value does not automatically mean that farmers produced or sold proportionately more cocoa. Revenue can rise because of larger shipments, higher international prices or a combination of factors. The figures released by the US Mission did not provide shipment volumes or a breakdown of the prices and quantities behind the increase.

The export development also coincides with the Federal Government’s renewed push to expand local cocoa processing and manufacturing. At the Cocoa Value Addition Summit in Abuja in July, President Bola Tinubu, represented by Agriculture and Food Security Minister Abubakar Kyari, said Nigeria was shifting towards processing more cocoa domestically to create jobs, attract investment and increase earnings from both raw beans and finished products.

That policy direction reflects a longstanding challenge for cocoa-producing countries: a large share of the value generated by chocolate and other cocoa-based consumer goods is earned through processing, manufacturing, branding and distribution, activities often concentrated outside producing countries. Expanding domestic processing could allow Nigerian businesses to sell products such as cocoa butter, powder and chocolate in addition to raw beans, although doing so requires investment, reliable infrastructure and access to export markets.

The United States is one of several markets for Nigerian cocoa. World Bank trade data identifies the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany among the country’s leading destinations for cocoa and cocoa preparations in 2025, with the Netherlands accounting for the largest share of the reported total. This means the US increase is significant for bilateral trade but should be viewed within a wider export market rather than as evidence that Nigeria’s cocoa industry depends on one buyer.

For Nigeria, the central economic question is not only whether cocoa exports continue to rise, but how much of that growth translates into better returns for farmers, stronger local businesses and higher-value production at home. The surge reported by the US Mission points to a potentially important market opportunity, while the differences in trade statistics and the absence of shipment-volume details underline the need to distinguish export earnings from changes in production and the wider development of the cocoa industry.