That estimated dollar amount reflects a 535.4% acceleration since 2018 when Sierra Leonean exports were $205 million.
Year over year, the value of Sierra Leone’s exports increased by 24.5% compared to $1.05 billion during 2021.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2022, the leone (Sierra Leone’s legal currency) diluted by -77.1% against the US dollar since 2018 and depreciated by -34.6% from 2021 to 2022. Sierra Leone’s weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Sierra Leone’s 5 biggest export products by value are iron ores and concentrates, titanium ores and concentrates, rough wood, aluminum ores and concentrates, then cocoa beans. Collectively, Sierra Leone’s five most valuable exports represent four-fifths (80.2%) of all exported goods from the West African country. Such a high percentage suggests a concentrated portfolio of exports.
Sierra Leone’s Key Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 90.5% of products exported from Sierra Leone were bought by importers in: mainland China (18.3% of Sierra Leone’s global total), South Korea (14%), Netherlands (13.5%), Somalia (10.8%), Ghana (8%), Romania (7.8%), Germany (5.3%), Guinea (4.5%), Senegal (3%), Ivory Coast (1.9%), Belgium (1.8%) and India (1.6%).
From a continental perspective, 34.8% of Sierra Leone’s exports by value was delivered to fellow African countries while 34.5% was sold to importers in Asia. Sierra Leone shipped another 30.1% worth of goods to Europe.
Tinier percentages went to North America (0.5%), Latin America (0.08%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania’s Australia only (0.02%).
Given Sierra Leone’s population of 8.3 million people, its total $1.3 billion in 2022 exports translates to roughly $160 for every resident in the West African nation. That dollar metric outpaces the average $120 per capita one year earlier in 2021.
Sierra Leone’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Sierra Leonean global shipments during 2022, 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 Sierra Leone.
- Ores, slag, ash: US$950.1 million (72.9% of total exports)
- Wood: $101.3 million (7.8%)
- Cocoa: $46.5 million (3.6%)
- Gems, precious metals: $43.5 million (3.3%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $27.1 million (2.1%)
- Iron, steel: $19.5 million (1.5%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $17.3 million (1.3%)
- Machinery including computers: $14.3 million (1.1%)
- Fish: $11.9 million (0.9%)
- Vehicles: $7.2 million (0.5%)
Sierra Leone’s top 10 exports accounted for 95.1% of the overall value of its global shipments.
The metals iron and steel were the fastest growers among the top 10 export categories, up by 102.2% from 2021 to 2022.
In second place for improving export sales was ores, slag, ash via a 70% advance. That product category was propelled by higher international sales of Sierra Leonean iron ores and concentrates.
Sierra Leone’s shipments of animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 12.5%.
The severest decliner among Sierra Leone’s top 10 export categories was gems and precious metals, pulled down by a -61.6% year-over-year drop.
Drilling down to 4-digit HTS codes, Sierra Leone’s most valuable exported products in 2022 were: iron ores and concentrates (45.7% of the country’s total exports), titanium ores and concentrates (19.7%), rough wood (6.7%), aluminum ores and concentrates (4.5%), coco beans (3.5%), unmounted and unset diamonds (3.2%), niobium or zirconium ores and concentrates (2.5%), palm oil (1.9%), iron or steel scrap (1.3%), then sawn wood (1%).
Products Behind Sierra’s Leone’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Sierra Leonean 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.
- Ores, slag, ash: US$950.1 million (Up by 70% since 2021)
- Wood: $96.2 million (Down by -38.1%)
- Cocoa: $42.8 million (Up by 0.5%)
- Gems, precious metals: $42.1 million (Down by -62%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $19.2 million (Up by 25.7%)
- Fish: $8.1 million (Up by 21.1%)
- Copper: $4.1 million (Up by 57.1%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $3.6 million (Up by 130.2%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $314,000 (Down by -11.5%)
- Vegetable plaiting materials: $254,000 (Up by 279.1%)
Sierra Leone has highly positive net exports in the international trade of ores and concentrates including iron, titanium and aluminum. In turn, these cashflows indicate Sierra Leone’s strong competitive advantages under the ores, slag and ash product category.
Products Causing Sierra’s Leone’s Worst Trade Deficits
Sierra Leone racked up an estimated -US$414.9 million trade deficit for 2022 falling by -33.9% compared to -$628 million in red ink one year earlier in 2021.
Below are exports from Sierra Leone that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Sierra Leone’s goods trail Sierra Leonean importer spending on foreign products.
- Cereals: -US$160.8 million (Up by 22.13% since 2021)
- Machinery including computers: -$130.8 million (Up by 19.9%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$105.8 million (Up by 15.4%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$103.6 million (Up by 9.4%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$97.1 million (Up by 33.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$90.2 million (Down by -0.4%)
- Vehicles: -$81.6 million (Down by -29.4%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$71.3 million (Up by 15.3%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: -$49.1 million (Up by 31.8%)
- Iron, steel: -$48.8 million (Down by -19.1%)
Weighed down by negative trade balances for imported rice and to a lesser extent wheat and corn, Sierra Leone has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the cereals category.
Sierra Leonean Export Companies
Not one Sierra Leonean corporation ranks among the Forbes Global 2000 list.
Wikipedia lists companies from Sierra Leone that participate in international trade transactions. Selected examples are shown below.
- Fly 6ix (airliner)
- Rokel Commercial Bank (commercial banking)
- Sierra Leone Brewery Limited (alcoholic beverages)
- Sierra Leone Commercial Bank (commercial banking)
- Union Trust Bank (commercial banking)
In macroeconomic terms, Sierra Leone’s total exported goods represent 7.9% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($16.5 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 7.9% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compared to 6.5% for 2021. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Sierra Leone’s total economic performance, albeit based on a relatively short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s financial health is its unemployment rate. In 2022, Sierra Leone’s jobless rate averaged 3.63% down modestly from its average 3.7% unemployment rate in 2021.
Sierra Leone’s capital city is Freetown.
See also China’s Top Trading Partners, South Sudan’s Top 10 Exports, Somalia’s Top 10 Exports and Top African Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Sierra Leone. Accessed on August 29, 2023
Forbes 2018 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 29, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 29, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 29, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 29, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Sierra Leone. Accessed on August 29, 2023
Wikipedia, Flag of Sierra Leone. Accessed on August 29, 2023
Wikipedia, Sierra Leone. Accessed on August 29, 2023
World’s Capital Cities, Capital Facts for Freetown, Sierra Leone. Accessed on August 29, 2023