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Textile Sector Exports and Economic Development in Nigeria
Subject area: Management and Commerce · Area of research: Economics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I12-1719061
Abstract
This study examined the impact of textile sector exports on economic development in Nigeria. Despite its historical significance as Africa's largest textile producer and a major source of non-oil export earnings during its peak decades, Nigeria's textile sector has experienced persistent decline, with operational mills collapsing and export earnings dwindling to negligible levels. The study was motivated by mixed empirical evidence regarding the relationship between textile exports and economic development, and renewed policy interest surrounding the African Continental Free Trade Area. The main objective was to examine the impact of textile export earnings on GDP per capita as a measure of economic development. The study adopted an ex post facto research design utilizing annual time-series data from 1990 to 2024, sourced from the World Development Indicators, Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, and National Bureau of Statistics. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag bounds testing approach was employed to examine long-run relationships. The findings revealed that textile export earnings have a significant negative relationship with GDP per capita growth, contrary to the export-led growth hypothesis, indicating deep structural challenges in external competitiveness and value addition. Conversely, textile sector output demonstrated a strong positive relationship with GDP per capita growth, affirming the sector's potential for domestic demand-driven development. The study concludes that while domestic textile production remains a crucial development lever, the current structure of textile exports fails to deliver sustainable improvements in living standards, necessitating urgent policy intervention for value addition and regional market integration.
Keywords
Textile exports, economic development, GDP per capita, export-led growth
How to cite this paper
@article{1719061,
author = {Opara, Godstime Ikechukwu, Ogu, Callistus, Madu Kingsley Armsterdan},
title = {Textile Sector Exports and Economic Development in Nigeria},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2026},
volume = {9},
number = {12},
pages = {2986-2995},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1719061.pdf},
abstract = {This study examined the impact of textile sector exports on economic development in Nigeria. Despite its historical significance as Africa's largest textile producer and a major source of non-oil export earnings during its peak decades, Nigeria's textile sector has experienced persistent decline, with operational mills collapsing and export earnings dwindling to negligible levels. The study was motivated by mixed empirical evidence regarding the relationship between textile exports and economic development, and renewed policy interest surrounding the African Continental Free Trade Area. The main objective was to examine the impact of textile export earnings on GDP per capita as a measure of economic development. The study adopted an ex post facto research design utilizing annual time-series data from 1990 to 2024, sourced from the World Development Indicators, Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, and National Bureau of Statistics. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag bounds testing approach was employed to examine long-run relationships. The findings revealed that textile export earnings have a significant negative relationship with GDP per capita growth, contrary to the export-led growth hypothesis, indicating deep structural challenges in external competitiveness and value addition. Conversely, textile sector output demonstrated a strong positive relationship with GDP per capita growth, affirming the sector's potential for domestic demand-driven development. The study concludes that while domestic textile production remains a crucial development lever, the current structure of textile exports fails to deliver sustainable improvements in living standards, necessitating urgent policy intervention for value addition and regional market integration.},
keywords = {Textile exports, economic development, GDP per capita, export-led growth},
month = {June},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.64388/IREV9I12-1719061}
}