Nigeria recorded a 16.9 per cent Year-on-Year rise in manufactured goods imports, reaching N18 trillion in the first half of 2026, a development that has intensified worries about the country’s growing dependence on imports and the strain on local manufacturers.

Vanguard reported that according to the latest Foreign Trade Statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics, manufactured imports climbed from N15.4 trillion in H1’25 to N17.99 trillion in H1’26.

The rise was largely fuelled by a strong second-quarter performance, with manufactured goods imports growing by 12.1 per cent Quarter-on-Quarter to N9.51 trillion, up from N8.48 trillion in Q1’26.

On a year-on-year basis, Q2’26 manufactured imports increased by 20.7 per cent from N7.88 trillion posted in Q2’25.

Likewise, Q1’26 imports rose by 13 per cent YoY compared with N7.51 trillion recorded in Q1’25.

This upward trend persists despite ongoing government initiatives aimed at boosting domestic production, promoting local content and encouraging import substitution.

The development has stoked fresh concerns over the capacity of local manufacturers to hold their own against imported goods, especially amid continuing financing, energy and production-cost challenges.

Manufacturers have consistently flagged high operating expenses and costly credit as factors eroding their competitiveness and constraining their ability to scale up production.

In June 2026, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) disclosed that bank credit to the manufacturing sector fell by N1.92 trillion to N6.61 trillion in December 2025, down from N8.53 trillion the previous year.

The association further decried the high cost of borrowing, noting that despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s cut to the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 26.5 per cent, average prime lending rates hovered around 27 per cent, while maximum lending rates at some commercial banks climbed as high as 35.6 per cent.

As manufactured imports continue to climb, manufacturers are calling for stronger policy measures to check smuggling and unfair import competition, alongside reduced costs of finance, energy and other production inputs to help local producers compete more effectively.