Nigeria’s palm oil import bill surged by 194.4 percent year-on-year to ₦23.16 billion in the first quarter of 2026 (Q1’26), according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Foreign Trade in Goods Report. This compares with ₦7.87 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025 (Q1’25). The Q1’26 figure also represents a 65.4 percent quarter-on-quarter increase from ₦14 billion in Q4’25.
The sharp rise comes despite Nigeria’s favourable climate for oil palm cultivation and its status as Africa’s largest producer of the commodity. The country has about 27 palm oil-producing states, spanning the Niger Delta and South-East regions. Current annual consumption stands at approximately 2.4 million tonnes, while local output is estimated at 1.5 million tonnes, leaving a supply deficit of around 900,000 metric tonnes that is largely met through imports from West Africa and Asia.
About 80 percent of domestic production is carried out by smallholder farmers who largely rely on manual processing techniques, with the remaining 20 percent handled by larger processors including Okomu Oil Palm Plc and Presco.
Stakeholders have linked the increase to urbanisation, population growth, and structural challenges in local production and processing. Graham Hefer, Managing Director of Okomu Oil Palm Plc, noted that persistent import-driven competitive pressures continue to impact domestic palm oil prices. He warned that the influx of unwholesome and poorly taxed foreign palm oil is undercutting local producers and poses a severe threat to investments and the survival of domestic oil palm expansion initiatives.
Dr. Alphonsus Inyang, President of the National Palm Producers Association of Nigeria (NPPAN), stated that the actual import bill could be higher than officially reported. He estimated national consumption at about three million tonnes annually against local production of roughly half that amount. Inyang attributed rising demand to urbanisation, noting that about 49 percent of Nigerians now live in urban centres, driving consumption of palm oil-based products such as bread, cosmetics, baby formula, detergents, soap, and margarine.
“Urbanization is driving growth and demand for palm oil, and it will continue to do that because Nigeria’s population grows at about 3.5%, and the production demand for palm oil grows at 2.2% per year in Nigeria,” Inyang said. He called for greater focus on smallholder farmers, citing the successful models of Indonesia and Malaysia, and outlined NPPAN’s plan to build a $20 billion oil palm economy within five years across two million hectares.
Chief Henry Olatujoye, Chief Executive Officer of Palmfield Development and Processing Limited and former NPPAN President, attributed the rising import bill primarily to population growth outpacing local production capacity rather than policy failure. He noted that Nigeria’s commercial plantations average only about 250,000 hectares (with wild groves adding roughly two million hectares more), far below Indonesia’s nearly seven million hectares and Malaysia’s about five million. Olatujoye added that about 80 percent of imported palm oil goes into industrial use requiring free fatty acid (FFA) content below five percent, while much of the locally produced oil preferred for cooking has higher FFA levels of 10–15 percent and does not meet industrial bleaching standards.
Dr. Oseni Tijani, a Research Scientist at the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST), linked supply challenges partly to inadequate value addition and limited understanding of modern processing techniques.
Nigeria remains one of the top ten global producers of palm oil according to the United States Department of Agriculture, yet the persistent gap between production and demand continues to drive significant import expenditure and pressure on the local industry.