Nigeria’s agri-food exports to the European Union (EU) plunged 46 per cent in the first half of 2026, losing about €567 million in value as falling cocoa prices weighed heavily on trade with one of the country’s major export markets.
EU agri-food imports from Nigeria fell from approximately €1.225 billion between January and June 2025 to €658 million in the corresponding period of 2026, according to the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI).
The figures were contained in its latest report, Monitoring EU Agri-Food Trade: Developments until June 2026, which is based on data from Eurostat’s COMEXT database.
The decline also reduced Nigeria’s share of total EU agri-food imports from about 1.3 per cent in the first half of 2025 to 0.7 per cent during the same period this year.
The European Commission attributed much of the decline in imports from several African suppliers, including Nigeria, to falling values of cocoa-related products as international cocoa prices retreated from earlier highs.
The impact was also evident in other major African agricultural exporters. Côte d’Ivoire, the world’s leading cocoa producer, recorded a 19 per cent decline in EU agri-food imports, from €5.056 billion to €4.114 billion.
Cameroon suffered a sharper 43 per cent fall, with imports dropping from €1.243 billion to €706 million, while Guinea recorded a 94 per cent decline, representing a reduction of about €250 million.
The downturn in African exports came amid a broader contraction in the EU’s agri-food import market. Imports from all origins stood at €93.4 billion in January-June 2026, down €3.6 billion, or four per cent, from the same period in 2025.
Coffee, tea, cocoa and spices accounted for much of the decline, with imports in the category falling 17 per cent from €21.538 billion to €17.978 billion. Cocoa products alone accounted for about €3 billion of the reduction.
The reversal followed a record year for EU agri-food imports in 2025, when total imports reached €188.6 billion, up nine per cent from 2024. Higher import prices, particularly for cocoa and coffee, had been identified by the Commission as a major driver of the increase.
With commodity prices subsequently retreating, the higher-value trade recorded in 2025 has reversed in 2026, exposing cocoa-dependent African exporters to significant reductions in export values.
Not all major African suppliers recorded declines, however. EU agri-food imports from Morocco edged up from €2.448 billion to €2.461 billion, while imports from Egypt increased from €1.468 billion to €1.632 billion, an 11 per cent rise.
Beyond cocoa, EU imports of fruit and nuts increased by €503 million, or three per cent, to €15.113 billion, while beef and veal imports rose by €327 million, or 23 per cent, to €1.776 billion.
Cereal imports, however, fell by €715 million, or 15 per cent, while imports of oilseeds and protein crops declined by €345 million, or three per cent.
