Nigeria’s textile, apparel and footwear subsector has recorded its ninth consecutive quarter of negative real growth, declining by 1.23% year-on-year in Q2 2026, according to the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The Nigeria textile contraction, which first took hold in Q2 2024, has now persisted without interruption across nine straight quarters. As the decline extends further, the subsector’s share of Nigeria’s real GDP has slipped from 1.87% in Q2 2025 to 1.77% in Q2 2026, reflecting a steady erosion of its contribution to the country’s broader economic output.
What the GDP Data Reveals
The current downturn in Nigeria’s textile, apparel and footwear subsector began in Q2 2024, when real output fell by 1.41% year-on-year. The contraction deepened through the second half of that year, reaching 3.09% in Q3 2024 and hitting its steepest point at 3.39% in Q4 2024.
Heading into 2025, the pace of decline eased somewhat, with the subsector recording a 1.63% contraction in Q1 2025 and 1.32% in Q2 2025. However, the apparel and footwear decline widened again in the latter half of 2025, registering 2.41% in Q3 and 2.68% in Q4. The subsector entered 2026 still in contraction territory, posting a 1.22% decline in Q1 2026 before recording a further 1.23% drop in Q2 2026, completing nine consecutive quarters of negative real growth since Q2 2024.
Nominal Output Also Weakens
The weakness was not confined to real terms. In nominal terms, the textile, apparel and footwear subsector contracted by 0.49% year-on-year in Q2 2026. Nominal output stood at N1.506 trillion during the quarter, compared with N1.514 trillion recorded in Q2 2025 — a modest but notable step back in absolute value.
Performance Within the Broader Manufacturing Sector
Within the manufacturing sector, the apparel and footwear decline stood in contrast to stronger performances elsewhere. While Nigeria’s textile sector recorded a 1.23% real contraction in Q2 2026, Oil Refining grew by 43.94% during the same period, Cement expanded by 12.75%, and Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products rose by 7.70%.
This positions the textile, apparel and footwear subsector among the weaker-performing activities within manufacturing during the quarter, even as several other segments demonstrated meaningful recovery and growth.
The Deeper Challenges Behind the Numbers
Nigeria’s textile sector has battled structural difficulties for decades. According to a Federal Government statement in February 2025, Nigeria spends approximately $6 billion annually on imported textiles. Industry executives have noted that the workforce engaged in local textile manufacturing has dropped sharply — from around 250,000 workers across more than 250 companies during the period between 1985 and 1990 to fewer than 10,000 employees today.
Import pressure remains a central concern driving the Nigeria textile contraction. Textile and textile-related product imports climbed to N1.06 trillion in 2025, according to data reported in March 2026, reflecting the continued reliance on foreign textile goods over domestically produced alternatives.
Efforts to Rebuild Domestic Production
Efforts to reverse the decline have been outlined by both government and private-sector actors. In June 2025, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) disclosed plans for a $5 billion integrated textile facility in Nigeria. The proposed project is expected to generate employment for approximately 250,000 workers, produce around 350,000 tonnes of garments annually, and potentially reduce Nigeria’s textile import bill by an estimated $4.7 billion.
The question of how to revive the industry drew fresh debate in June 2026 after the Nigerian Senate called for a ban on textile imports. However, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) cautioned against an outright ban, warning that such a measure could disrupt the wider fashion and garment industry — a segment the CPPE estimated supports the livelihoods of approximately 10 million Nigerians.
Manufacturers’ Confidence Improves Despite Sector Weakness
Notably, the continued Nigeria textile contraction comes against the backdrop of an improvement in overall manufacturer sentiment. The Manufacturers’ CEOs Confidence Index (MCCI), published by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), rose by 3.4 points in Q2 2026, returning above the 50-point benchmark after dipping below it in the prior quarter.
According to MAN, the uptick in confidence was driven largely by expectations around the commercial environment. Policy measures including the Nigeria Tax Act 2025, the Nigeria Industrial Policy, and the “Nigeria First” Policy were cited as factors contributing to improved sentiment among manufacturers — even as individual subsectors such as textile, apparel and footwear continue to face headwinds on the ground.
The NBS GDP report for Q2 2026 underscores that while manufacturing sector Nigeria as a whole is seeing pockets of recovery, the textile, apparel and footwear subsector remains one of the more persistently challenged segments within it, with nine quarters of unbroken decline now on record.
