That dollar amount reflects a 430.5% acceleration compared to $1.5 billion in 2018.
Year over year, the total value of Guyanese exports spiked by 85.4% from $4.24 billion during 2021.
Best Guyanese Exports Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 97.5% of products exported from Guyana were bought by importers in: United States of America (34.4% of the Guyanese total), Trinidad/Tobago (25.9%), Singapore (10.2%), Barbados (6.3%), United Arab Emirates (6.1%), United Kingdom (5.7%), Spain (3.8%), Jamaica (2d%), mainland China (1.5%), Venezuela (0.7%), Germany (0.5%) and Portugal (0.4%).
From a continental perspective, 35.9% of Guyana’s exports by value was delivered to Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean countries while 34.7% was sold to importers in North America. Guyana shipped another 17.9% worth of goods to Asia.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in Europe (11.4%), Oceania (0.03%) led by New Zealand and Australia, then Africa (0.02%).
Given Guyana’s population of 792,000 people, its total $7.9 billion in 2022 exports translates to about $9,900 for every resident in the Latin American country. That per-capita dollar amount exceeds the average $5,400 one year earlier in 2021.
Guyana’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Guyanese global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Guyana.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$4.3 billion (54.4% of total exports)
- Railways, streetcars: $2.3 billion (29.9%)
- Gems, precious metals: $393.5 million (5%)
- Cereals: $207.1 million (2.6%)
- Ships, boats: $162.4 million (2.1%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $102.4 million (1.3%)
- Fish: $92.7 million (1.2%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $67.2 million (0.9%)
- Wood: $51.9 million (0.7%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $47.6 million (0.6%)
Guyana’s top 10 exports accounted for 98.6% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Ships and boats was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 143,629% from 2021 to 2022.
In second place for improving export sales was railways and streetcars via a 1,232% advance.
Shipments of fish from Guyana posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 125.6%.
The severest decliner among Guyana’s top 10 export categories was gems and precious metals, pulled down by a -29.6% year-over-year reduction.
The above listed product groups are at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the more detailed 4-digit HTS codes, Guyana’s 10 biggest exports by value are crude oil (54.4% of the Guyanese total), specially designed containers (29.9%), unwrought gold (4.8%), rice (2.6%), light vessels, fire boats and floating decks (2.1%), aluminum ores and concentrates (1.3%), alcoholic beverages including spirits and liqueurs (0.8%), frozen whole fish (0.7%), medication mixes in dosage (0.6%), and sawn wood (0.4%).
That cohort of 10 leading exports from Guyana accounted for 97.5% of money received for Guyana’s overall exports in 2022. Such a high percentage indicates a highly concentrated portfolio of exported products.
Products Generating Greatest Trade Surpluses for Guyana
The following types of Guyanese 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.
- Railways, streetcars: $2.3 billion (Up by 1,278%)
- Gems, precious metals: $393.3 million (Down by -29.6%)
- Cereals: $159.4 million (Down by -2%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $101.4 million (Up by 28%)
- Fish: $91.6 million (Up by 128.1%)
- Wood: $41.2 million (Up by 12.4%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $13.4 million (Reversing a -$7.1 million deficit)
- Fruits, nuts: $3.1 million (Down by -16.9%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $3.1 million (Down by -60.6%)
Guyana generated highly positive net exports in the international trade of crude oil. In turn, these cashflows indicate Guyana’s strong competitive advantage under the mineral fuels-related category.
Products Causing Biggest Trade Deficits for Guyana
In 2022 Guyana incurred a -US$690.9 million deficit, reversing a $97.2 million surplus in 2021.
Below are exports from Guyana that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Guyana’s goods trail Guyanese importer spending on foreign products.
- Ships, boats: -US$5 billion (Up by 199.9% since 2021)
- Machinery including computers: -$439.9 million (Up by 38%)
- Vehicles: -$232.3 million (Up by 24.6%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$158.3 million (Up by 165%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$144.5 million (Up by 9.3%)
- Iron, steel: -$113.3 million (Up by 55.1%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$101.4 million (Up by 15.9%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: -$56.4 million (Down by -0.9%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: -$55.2 million (Up by 5.7%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: -$52.3 million (Up by 32.5%)
Guyana has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the highly capital-intensive category titled ships and boats.
Guyana’s Export Companies
Not one Guyanese corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000 for 2022.
Wikipedia lists some exports-related companies from Guyana. Selected examples are shown below.
- Banks DIH (food products)
- National Milling Co. of Guyana (food products)
- Trans Guyana Airways (airliner)
Global trade portal Alibaba also lists exports-oriented companies headquartered in Guyana.
- C&C Trading Guyana Co. (lumber)
- Cummings Wood Products Ltd. (wood decking, flooring)
- Guyana Farm Fresh (chili peppers)
- Rice Guyana Inc. (rice, bran)
- Trade One Guyana (fish)
In macroeconomic terms, Guyana’s total exported goods represent 23.3% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($33.8 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 23.3% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to 21.9% for 2021. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Guyana’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Guyana’s unemployment rate averaged 12.36% for 2022, down from an average 14.9% jobless rate one year earlier in 2021 according to Statista.
Guyana’s capital city is Georgetown.
See also Venezuela’s Top 10 Exports, Brazil’s Top 10 Exports and Top South American Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook South America: Guyana. Accessed on June 20, 2023
Forbes 2022 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 20, 2023
Foreign Trade , United States Census Bureau. Accessed on June 20, 2023
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on June 20, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on June 20, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 20, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 20, 2023
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on June 20, 2023
Wikipedia, Guyana. Accessed on June 20, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Guyana. Accessed on June 20, 2023
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on June 20, 2023