That dollar amount reflects a 28.8% increase from $4.38 billion in 2020.
Year over year, overall sales of Burkina Faso’s exported goods accelerated by 26.3% compared to $4.47 billion during 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, Burkina Faso uses the West African CFA franc which depreciated by -4.9% against the US dollar since 2020 but remained stable from 2023 to 2024. Burkina Faso’s weaker local currency compared to 2020 makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers starting with American currency.
Burkina Faso’s biggest 3 exports by value are the product subcategories unwrought gold, uncarded and uncombed cotton, then cashew nuts and coconuts. Collectively, those items accounted for 90.2% of the overall revenues from all of the country’s exports in 2024. Such a high percentage illustrates Burkina Faso’s intensely concentrated portfolio of exported goods.
Major Trading Partners of Burkina Faso
The latest available country-specific data shows that 95.1% of products exported from Burkina Faso was bought by importers in: Switzerland (56.2% of the country’s total), United Arab Emirates (26.2%), Ivory Coast (2.9%), Mali (2.3%), Ghana (1.5%), Togo (1.1%), South Africa (0.98%), India (0.96%), Greece (also 0.96%), Singapore (0.8%), France (0.7%) and Netherlands (0.5%).
From a continental perspective, 59.6% of Burkina Faso’s exports by value was delivered to European countries while 29.2% was sold to importers in Asia. Burkina Faso shipped another 10.8% worth of goods to buyers in fellow African nations.
Tinier percentages went to customers in North America (0.4%), Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (0.03%) then Oceania’s Australia only (0.01%).
Given Burkina Faso’s population of 23.8 million people, its total $5.64 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $240 for every resident in the northwest African country. That dollar metric exceeds the average $190 per capita one year earlier in 2023.
Burkina Faso’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Burkinabe global shipments during 2024, at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Burkina Faso.
- Gems, precious metals: US$4.6 billion (82.4% of total exports)
- Cotton: $335.5 million (5.9%)
- Fruits, nuts: $149.1 million (2.6%)
- Oil seeds: $105.4 million (1.9%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $71.5 million (1.3%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $54.8 million (1%)
- Machinery including computers: $41.4 million (0.7%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $37.4 million (0.7%)
- Vegetables: $27.4 million (0.5%)
- Vehicles: $24.3 million (0.4%)
Burkina Faso’s top 10 export product categories generated 97.4% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Vegetables represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 1,664% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was mineral fuels including oil via a 111.5% advance, led by refined petroleum oils.
Burkina Faso’s shipments of gems and precious metals posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 32.1%.
The leading decliner among Burkina Faso’s top 10 export categories was salt, sulphur, stone and cement, thanks to a -33.7% year-over-year drop.
Drilling down to 4-digit HTS codes, Burkina Faso’s most valuable exported goods include unwrought gold (82.3% of the country’s global total). In second place was uncarded and uncombed cotton (5.9%), cashew nuts and coconuts (2%), oil seeds (1.7%), hydraulic cements (1.3%), processed petroleum oils (1%), dates, pineapples, mangoes, avocadoes and guavas (0.7%), fixed vegetable fats and oils (0.6%), fresh or chilled tomatoes (0.4%), then cigarettes and cigars (0.3%).
Products Generating Burkina Faso’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Burkinabe product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Gems, precious metals: US$4.6 billion (Up by 32.2% since 2023)
- Cotton: $329.8 million (Up by 30.7%)
- Fruits, nuts: $144.3 million (Up by 0.1%)
- Oil seeds: $94.1 million (Down by -33.8%)
- Vegetables: $23.5 million (Reversing a -$3.3 million deficit)
- Live animals: $18.2 million (Up by 217.5%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $12.8 million (Up by 0.3%)
- Lead: $3.1 million (Up by 188.9%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $1.5 million (Reversing an -$8.1 million deficit)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $1.3 million (Down by -24.2%)
Historically, Burkina Faso has earned highly positive net exports in the international trade of gold. In turn, these cashflows indicate Burkina Faso’s strong competitive advantages under the gems and precious metals category.
Products Causing Burkina Faso’s Worst Trade Deficits
Burkina Faso recorded an overall -US$790.0 million trade deficit for 2024, reducing by -44.4% from -$1.42 billion one year earlier in 2023.
Below are exports from Burkina Faso that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Burkina Faso’s goods trail Burkinabe importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$2.6 billion (Up by 12.3% since 2023)
- Machinery including computers: -$443.4 million (Up by 28.1%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$401.8 million (Up by 19%)
- Vehicles: -$331.4 million (Up by 27.4%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$269.5 million (Up by 8.5%)
- Cereals: -$241.5 million (Up by 7.2%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$200.9 million (Up by 3.1%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: -$133.4 million (Down by -6.9%)
- Iron, steel: -$128.4 million (Up by 4.1%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$121.9 million (Up by 22.4%)
Burkina Faso has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits related to the mineral fuels including oil category. That category was weighed down by red ink for refined petroleum oils, electricity, petroleum gas and petroleum coke.
Burkinabe Export Companies
Not one Burkinabe corporation ranks on the Forbes Global 2000 list.
Wikipedia lists companies located in Burkina Faso. Selected examples are shown below.
- Air Burkina (airliner)
- Faso Airways (airliner)
- Tovio (sportswear, equipment)
In macroeconomic terms, Burkina Faso’s total exported goods represent 8.3% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($68 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 8.3% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 7% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Burkina Faso’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
An key indicator of economic performance is the country’s unemployment rate. Burkina Faso’s unemployment rate averaged 5.2% for 2024, lower than its 5.3% jobless rate for 2023 according to Trading Economics metrics.
Burkina Faso’s capital city is Ouagadougou.
See also OPEC Countries Crude Oil Exports Sales Data, Report Card for Trade Surpluses and Deficits by Country and Top Cork Exporting Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Burkina Faso. Accessed on December 9, 2025
EXCHANGE-RATES.org CFA BCEAO Franc (XOF) To US Dollar (USD), Exchange Rate History. Accessed on December 9, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on December 9, 2025
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on December 9, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on December 9, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on December 9, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on December 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Burkina Faso. Accessed on December 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on December 9, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Burkina Faso. Accessed on December 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on December 9, 2025