That estimated dollar amount results from a 5.5% increase over the 5-year period starting from $1.67 billion in 2018.
Year over year, Yemen’s total revenues from exports shrank by -22.1% compared to $2.2 billion for 2021.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2022, the Yemeni rial depreciated by -418.5% against the US dollar since 2018 and diluted by -7.6% from 2021 to 2022. Yemen’s weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
The top 5 most valuable products exported from Yemen are crude oil, iron or steel scrap, moluscs, copper scrap, and frozen whole fish. Collectively, those 5 leading exports generated over four-fifths (82.8%) of the total value of Yemen’s exported goods for 2022.
Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East. Geographically, the Arab nation shares borders with Saudi Arabia to its north, Oman to its east and northeast, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to its south and the Red Sea to its west.
Yemen’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 88.6% of products exported from Yemen were bought by importers in: Saudi Arabia (35.6% of Yemen’s global total), Oman (18.8%), Somalia (7.3%), Japan (6%), United Arab Emirates (5.1%), Egypt (3.4%), United States of America (2.6%), Germany (2.4%), Djibouti (2.3%), United Kingdom (1.9%), Thailand (1.6%), then mainland China (1.5%).
Given its population of 33.3 million people, Yemen’s total $1.71 billion in 2022 exports translates to roughly $50 for every resident in the Middle Eastern country. That per-capita average falls below the $60 per person one year earlier in 2021.
Yemen’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Yemeni global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Yemen.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$1.1 billion (66.6% of total exports)
- Fish: $141.3 million (8.3%)
- Iron, steel: $113.3 million (6.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $92.4 million (5.4%)
- Copper: $54.9 million (3.2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $36.2 million (2.1%)
- Aluminum: $30.3 million (1.8%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $15.7 million (0.9%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $13.2 million (0.8%)
- Perfumes, cosmetics: $12.6 million (0.7%)
By value, Yemen’s top 10 export categories accounted for 96.1% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Perfumes and cosmetics represents the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 4,598% from 2021 to 2022.
In second place for improving export sales were the metals iron and steel via a 1,084% advance.
Yemen’s shipments of plastics both as material and items made from plastic posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 510.4%.
The lone decliner among Yemen’s top 10 export categories was fish, posting a -2.2% year-over-year drop.
Please note that the results listed above are at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level.
At the more detailed 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, crude oil represents Yemen’s most valuable exported product at two-thirds (64.7%) of the Middle Eastern country’s total. In second place was iron or steel scrap (6.6%) trailed by moluscs (3.6%), copper scrap (3%), frozen whole fish (2.9%), phone devices including smartphones (2.8%), electronic waste (2%), plastics scrap (1.9%), aluminum scrap (1.7%) then bran and other residues (0.8%).
Products Generating Yemen’s Top Trade Surpluses
The following types of Yemeni 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 is 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.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$1 billion (Up by 111.1% since 2021)
- Fish: $141.3 million (Up by -0.6%)
- Copper: $48.7 million (Reversing a -$571,000 deficit)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $12.2 million (Reversing a -$511,000 deficit)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $10.9 million (Up by -15.7%)
- Lead: $5.4 million (Up by -71.9%)
- Ships, boats: $1.7 million (Up by 10.8%)
- Collector items, art, antiques: $790,000 (Up by -23.2%)
- Zinc: $549,000 (Reversing a -$457,000 deficit)
- Ores, slag, ash: $73,000 (Reversing a -$4.3 million deficit)
Yemen has highly positive net exports in the international trade of fossil fuels, notably crude oil and petroleum gases. In turn, these cashflows indicate Yemen’s strong competitive advantages under the mineral fuels product category which represents over four-fifths of Yemeni exports.
Products Causing Yemen’s Top Trade Deficits
Overall, Yemen incurred an estimated -US$7.3 billion trade deficit for 2022, decreasing by -24.6% from -$9.64 billion during 2021.
Below are exports from Yemen that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Yemen’s goods trail Yemeni importer spending on foreign products.
- Cereals: -US$1.6 billion (Up by 46.5% since 2021)
- Iron, steel: -$577.6 million (Up by 4.3%)
- Machinery including computers: -$454 million (Up by 56%)
- Vehicles: -$420.6 million (Up by -10.4%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: -$325.8 million (Up by 23.3%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: -$275.3 million (Up by 36.3%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: -$268.1 million (Up by 55.5%)
- Footwear: -$254.3 million (Up by 62.5%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$252.7 million (Up by -50.9%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$247.5 million (Up by -15.9%)
Yemen has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for cereals particularly wheat, rice and corn (in that order).
Yemeni Export Companies
The following companies are selected examples of leading companies headquartered in Yemen:
No Yemeni company appears on the Forbes 2022 Global 2000 rankings.
Wikipedia does list some exporters from Yemen. Selected examples are shown below:
- Hayel Saeed Anam Group (multi-product conglomerate)
- TeleYemen (telecommunications)
- Yemen LNG (petroleum)
- Yemen Oil and Gas Corporation (petroleum)
- YemenSoft Inc (enterprise/accounting software)
In macroeconomic terms, Yemen’s total exported goods represent 2.5% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($67.4 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 2.5% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to 3.1% for 2021. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Yemen’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Yemen’s unemployment rate averaged 13.59% for 2022, down from an average 13.89% one year earlier in 2021 per Trading Economics.
Yemen’s capital city is Sana’a.
See also Yemen’s Top 10 Imports, Saudi Arabia’s Top 10 Exports, Oman’s Top 10 Exports and Crude Oil Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Kenya. Accessed on September 25, 2023
Forbes 2022 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 25, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 25, 2023
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on September 25, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 25, 2023
Wikipedia, Category: Companies of Yemen by industry. Accessed on September 25, 2023
Wikipedia, Yemen. Accessed on September 25, 2023