That calculated dollar amount results from a 157% acceleration from $65.9 million worth of exports 5 years earlier during 2020.
Year over year, the overall value of Aruban exports spiked by 52.7% compared to $111 million starting from 2023.
Aruba’s 5 most valuable exports are jewelry; miscellaneous fruits; fresh or dried gapes; avocadoes, pineapples, guavas and mangoes; then fresh or dried citrus fruit. Collectively, this quintet of lucrative exported products generated almost two-thirds (65.3%) of Aruba’s overall international sales in 2024.
The latest available country-specific data from 2023 shows that 100% of products exported from Aruba were bought by importers in: Colombia (66% of the Aruban total), United States of America (22.8%), Curaçao (5.6%), Netherlands (3.6%) and Panama (2.1%).
Given Aruba’s population of some 109,00 people, its total $169.5 million in 2024 exports translates to about $1,550 for every resident on the tourism-driven Caribbean island. That dollar metric surpasses the average $1,050 per capita one year earlier in 2023.
Aruba’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Aruban global shipments during 2024 presented 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 Aruba.
- Gems, precious metals: US$88 million (51.9% of total exports)
- Fruits, nuts: $25.7 million (15.2%)
- Vegetables: $7.7 million (4.5%)
- Machinery including computers: $7 million (4.1%)
- Iron, steel: $3.1 million (1.8%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $2.9 million (1.7%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $2.75 million (1.6%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $2.75 million (1.6%)
- Clocks, watches including parts: $2.67 million (1.6%)
- Perfumes, cosmetics: $2.2 million (1.3%)
Aruba’s top 10 export product categories accounted for 85.4% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Fruits and nuts represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 16,264% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales were mineral fuels including oil via a 4,002% advance.
Aruba’s shipments of vegetables posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 3,382%.
The lone decliner among Aruba’s top 10 export categories was the iron and steel product category, thanks to a -49.2% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, jewelry was Aruba’s highest-value exported product at 51.4% of the island’s total. In second place were miscellaneous fresh fruits (4%) trailed by fresh or dried grapes (3.7%), avocadoes, pineapples, guavas and mangoes (3.3%), fresh or dried citrus fruit (2.9%), iron or steel scrap (1.8%), processed petroleum oils (1.6%), wrist or pocket watches with precious metal cases (1.2%), dishwashing, cleaning, drying or filling machines (1.1%), then beauty, makeup and skin care preparations (1%).
Products Generating Aruba’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Aruban 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$35.3 million (Reversing a -$48.5 million deficit)
- Fruits, nuts: $13.6 million (Reversing a -$25.4 million deficit)
- Copper: $507,000 (Reversing a -$1.4 million deficit))
- Lead: $492,000 (Reversing a -$43,000 deficit)
- Collector items, art, antiques: $346,000 (Reversing a -$285,000 deficit)
- Woodpulp: $245,000 (Up by 231.1% since 2023)
Aruba posted positive net exports in the international trade of jewelry. This positive cashflow indicate Aruba’s competitive advantages under the gems and precious metals product category.
Products Causing Aruba’s Worst Trade Deficits
Aruba incurred an overall -US$1.26 billion trade deficit for 2024, reducing by -11.6% from -$1.43 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2023.
Below are exports from Aruba that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Aruba’s goods trail Aruban importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$217.6 million (Up by 138.9% since 2023)
- Machinery including computers: -$100.3 million (Down by -10.3%)
- Vehicles: -$97.7 million (Down by -8.8%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$80.7 million (Down by -8.3%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: -$70.4 million (Up by 1085.4%)
- Meat: -$60.8 million (Up by 2.2%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: -$52.2 million (Down by -4.8%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefab buildings: -$46.3 million (Down by -5.2%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$46.3 million (Up by 25.6%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: -$36.6 million (Up by 33.2%)
Aruba has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the mineral fuels-related and machinery including computers product categories.
Aruban Export Companies
Not one Aruban corporations rank among the Forbes Global 2000 listing.
Wikipedia also lists exports-related companies from Aruba, as does the e-commerce website Alibaba. Selected examples are shown below.
- Aruba Airlines (airliner)
- Caribbean Paint Factory (paint, coatings)
- Go! Trading (alcoholic drinks)
- Govaard Trading Company (auto parts)
- Mag Development Freezone (heavy equipment)
- N.V. Elmar (electricity)
In macroeconomic terms, Aruba’s total exported goods represent 3.2% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($5.265 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 3.2% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 exceeds the average 2% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relative increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Aruba’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Aruba’s unemployment rate averaged 3.859% in 2024 down from an average 4% for 2023, according to International Monetary Fund statistics.
Aruba’s capital city is Oranjestad.
See also Cuba’s Top 10 Exports, Jamaica’s Top 10 Exports and Colombia’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook, Central America and Caribbean: Aruba. Accessed on December 7, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on December 7, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on December 7, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on December 7, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on December 7, 2025
United Nations, World Statistics Pocketbook: Aruba. Accessed on December 7, 2025
Wikipedia, Aruba. Accessed on December 7, 2025
Wikipedia, Category: Companies of Aruba by industry. Accessed on December 7, 2025
Wikipedia, Flag of Aruba. Accessed on December 7, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on December 7, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on December 7, 2025