Food and beverage imports increased to N677.3bn in the first half of 2025, a 44.48 per cent rise from N468.76bn in the same period of 2024, prompting renewed calls for stronger government support to enhance local industry capacity and reduce dependency on imports.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that while the value of primary food and beverage imports mainly for household consumption surged, the value of processed food and beverages consumed by households recorded a marginal 1.85 per cent decline, falling from N699.58bn in H1 2024 to N686.81bn in H1 2025.
Meanwhile, primary food and beverage imports mainly for industrial use grew in six months by 1.37 per cent from N969.22bn to N982.49bn, while processed imports for industrial use rose by 7.28 per cent from N984.16bn to N1.06tn in the same period.