That dollar amount results from an 86.5% acceleration from $21 billion 5 years earlier in 2020.
Year over year, the overall value of Angolan exports slowed to a 1.3% gain compared to $38.7 billion during 2023.
Based on its average exchange rate for 2024, the Angolan kwanza depreciated by -34.8% against the US dollar since 2020 and diluted by -25.3% from 2023 to 2024. Angola’s weaker local currency makes the southwest African country’s exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively lesser expensive for international buyers starting from American currency.
Angola’s 3 most valuable export products are crude oil, petroleum gases, and unset diamonds. Collectively, that trio of major products was worth 90% of the overall value of Angolan exports for 2024.
Angola’s Top Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 86.5% of products exported from Angola was bought by importers in: mainland China (41.4% of the Angolan total), India (11.1%), Spain (6.5%), United States of America (4.2%), Indonesia (4%), France (3.9%), Singapore (3.5%), United Arab Emirates (3.2%), Brazil (2.9%), Netherlands (2.2%), South Africa (1.92%) and Canada (1.86%).
From a continental perspective, 67.6% of Angola’s exports by value was delivered to Asian countries while 18.1% was sold to importers in Europe. Angola shipped another 6.1% worth of goods to customers based in North America.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in Africa (5%), Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (3.1%), then Oceania (0.05%) mostly Marshall Islands, New Zealand and Vanuatu.
Given Angola’s population of 38 million people, its total $39.3 billion exported goods translates to roughly $1,050 for every resident in the southwest African country. That dollar metric equals the average $1,050 per capita one year earlier in 2023.
Angola’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Angolan global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Angola.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$34.2 billion (87.1% of total exports)
- Ships, boats: $2.7 billion (6.9%)
- Gems, precious metals: $1.5 billion (3.9%)
- Machinery including computers: $192.3 million (0.5%)
- Iron, steel: $72.9 million (0.2%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $68.8 million (0.2%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $55.2 million (0.1%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $52.6 million (0.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $44.1 million (0.11%)
- Fish: $40.6 million (0.10%)
Angola’s top 10 export product categories accounted for 99.3% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Aircraft, spacecraft and was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 351.1% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales were the metals iron and steel: via a 49.7%gain led by ???.
Angola’s shipments of ships and boats posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 47.6%.
The leading decliner among Angola’s top 10 export categories was fish, recording a -35.3% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, crude oil represents Angola’s most valuable exported product worth 79.6% of the African nation’s total. In second place were petroleum gases (6.5%) trailed by unmounted and unset diamonds (3.9%), light vessels, fireboats and floating docks (3.6%), cruise or cargo ships and barges (2%), processed petroleum oils (0.9%), tugboats and pusher craft (0.7%), warships and lifeboats (0.6%), aircraft and spacecraft (0.2%), then taps, valves and similar appliances (0.1%).
Products Driving Angola’s Best Trade Surpluses
Overall Angola achieved an estimated US$25.3 billion trade surplus for 2024, expanding by 10.1% from the $23 billion in black ink one year earlier in 2023.
The following types of Angolan 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 reflect 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$31.3 billion (Up by 0.4% since 2023)
- Ships, boats: $2.7 billion (Up by 52.9%)
- Gems, precious metals: $1.5 billion (Down by -2.6%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $37.5 million (Down by -18.0%)
- Fish: $22.2 million (Down by -47.5%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $11.8 million (Reversing a -$106 million deficit)
Historically, Angola has highly positive net exports in the international trade of crude oil and, to a lesser extent, petroleum gases. In turn, these cashflows indicate Angola’s strong competitive advantages under mineral fuels including oil category.
Products Causing Angola’s Worst Trade Deficits
Below are exports from Angola that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Angola’s goods trail Angolan importer spending on foreign products.
- Machinery including computers: -US$2.4 billion (Down by -6.3% since 2023)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$903.2 million (Down by -9.6%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$897.9 million (Up by 19.8%)
- Vehicles: -$765 million (Down by -43.3%)
- Cereals: -$706.3 million (Up by 13.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$431 million (Down by -3%)
- Meat: -$393.3 million (Down by -11.6%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$349.4 million (Down by -15.9%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: -$302.3 million (Down by -4.6%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$249 million (Down by -29.2%)
Angola has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the machinery including computers product category.
Angolan Export Companies
No Angolan corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists exports-related companies from Angola. Selected examples are shown below.
- Angola Cables (fibreoptics)
- Angola LNG (natural gas)
- Cuca beer (alcoholic beverages)
- Endiama (diamonds)
- Secil Maritima (shipping)
- Sonangol Group (oil, gas)
- Transafrik International (cargo airliner)
- Unitel Angola (mobile phones)
In macroeconomic terms, Angola’s total exported goods represent 10.3% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($382.7 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 10.3% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 14.8% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Angola’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of an economy’s health is its unemployment rate. Angola’s jobless rate was 28.8% at June 2025, down from its 32.3% jobless rate one year earlier.
Angola’s capital city is Luanda.
See also China’s Top Trading Partners, Nigeria’s Top 10 Exports, South Africa’s Top 10 Exports and South Africa’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products
Research Sources:
EXCHANGE-RATES.org, Exchange Rates (selected indicators). Accessed on October 9, 2025
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on October 9, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 9, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 9, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 9, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on October 9, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Angola. Accessed on October 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on October 9, 2025