A landlocked Central African nation, the Republic of Chad shipped US$4.93 billion worth of exported products around the world in 2024.

That calculated dollar amount results from a 188.4% acceleration from $1.71 billion 5 years earlier in in 2020.

Year over year, the overall value of goods exported from Chad expanded by 10.8% compared to $4.45 billion starting from 2023.

Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, Chad uses the West African CFA franc which depreciated by -4.9% against the US dollar since 2020 but remained stable from 2023 to 2024. Chad’s weaker local currency compared to 2020 makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers starting with American currency.

Chad’s top 3 most valuable exported products by value are crude oil, unwrought gold then oil seeds. Collectively, that trio of export categories represent 98.1% of exports sold by Chad in 2024. Such a high percentage reflects Chad’s extremely concentrated portfolio of exported goods.

Chad’s Major Trading Partners

The latest available country-specific data shows that 99.7% of products exported from Chad was bought by importers in: United Arab Emirates (29.3% of the Chadian total), Germany (20.8%), mainland China (15.3%), France (13.5%), Netherlands (9.9%), Türkiye (3.7%), Malaysia (2.9%), Taiwan (2.1%), United States of America (1.7%), India (0.4%), Egypt (0.1%) and Niger (0.07%).

From a continental perspective, 53.7% of Chad’s exports by value was delivered to Asian countries while 44.4% was sold to importers in Europe. Chad shipped another 1.7% worth of goods to buyers in North America.

Smaller percentages went to customers based in fellow African countries (0.18%), Latin America (0.002%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania’s Australia and New Zealand (0.0003%).

Given Chad’s population of 18.4 million people, its total $4.93 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $270 for every resident in the Central African country. That dollar metric surpasses the average $190 per capita one year earlier during 2023.

Chad’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Chadian global shipments during 2024 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 Chad.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US$3.2 billion (65.1% of total exports)
2. Gems, precious metals: $1.4 billion (29.2%)
3. Oil seeds: $206.3 million (4.2%)
4. Gums, resins, other vegetable saps: $50.6 million (1%)
5. Cotton: $14 million (0.28%)
6. Vehicles: $1.5 million (0.03%)
7. Electrical machinery, equipment: $997,000 (0.02%)
8. Machinery including computers: $660,000 (0.01%)
9. Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $569,000 (0.01%)
10. Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $543,000 (0.01%)

Chad’s top 10 export product categories generated 99.94% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Unknitted and non-crocheted clothing or accessories represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 554.2% from 2023 to 2024.

In second place for improving export sales was gums, resins and other vegetable saps via an 86.1% advance.

Chad’s shipments of electrical machinery and equipment posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 39.4%.

The leading decliner among Chad’s top 10 export categories was vehicles, thanks to its -32.9% year-over-year drop.

Drilling down to 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System codes, Chad’s most valuable exported goods in 2024 were crude oil (65.1% of its overall total), unwrought gold (28.8%), oil seeds (4.2%), natural gums, resins and balsams (1%), unwrought silver (0.4%), uncarded and uncombed cotton (0.3%), then processed petroleum oils (0.1%).

Products Behind Chad’s Biggest Trade Surpluses

Chad generated an estimated US$3.26 billion product trade surplus for 2024, expanding by 16.9% from $2.8 billion in black ink one year earlier in 2023.

The following types of Chadian 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.

1. Mineral fuels including oil: US$3.1 billion (Up by 1.1% since 2022)
2. Gems, precious metals: $1.3 billion (Up by 29.8%)
3. Oil seeds: $205.2 million (Up by 22.2%)
4. Gums, resins, other vegetable saps: $50.5 million (Up by 87%)
5. Cotton: $5 million (Down by -6.5%)
6. Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $569,000 (Down by -18.7%)
7. Copper: $29,000 (Reversing a -$700,000 deficit)
8. Collector items, art, antiques: $9,000 (Down by -96.7%)

Historically, Chad earns highly positive net exports principally in the international trade of crude petroleum oil. In turn, these cashflows indicate Chad’s competitive advantages under the mineral fuels-related product category.

Products Causing Chad’s Worst Trade Deficits

Below are exports from Chad that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Chad’s goods trail Chadian importer spending on foreign products.

1. Electrical machinery, equipment: -US$243.1 million (Up by 29.5% since 2022)
2. Vehicles: -$202.9 million (Up by 32%)
3. Machinery including computers: -$135.9 million (Up by 8.6%)
4. Pharmaceuticals: -$124.3 million (Up by 34.3%)
5. Cereal/milk preparations: -$61.8 million (Down by -10.1%)
6. Plastics, plastic articles: -$52.2 million (Up by 45.2%)
7. Miscellaneous food preparations: -$48.2 million (Down by -26.1%)
8. Iron, steel: -$40 million (Down by -44.9%)
9. Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$37.3 million (Up by 20.7%)
10. Perfumes, cosmetics: -$36.2 million (Up by 19.4%)

Chad has notable negative net exports and therefore international trade deficits notably under the electrical machinery and equipment product category, as well as for vehicles and machinery including computers.

Chadian Export Companies

Not one Chadian corporation ranks among the Forbes Global 2000 listing.

Wikipedia also lists companies from Chad that participate in international trade transactions. Selected examples are shown below.

• Commercial Bank Chad (bank)
• Cotontchad (cotton)
• Mid Express Tchad (cargo airliner)

 
In macroeconomic terms, Chad’s total exported goods represent an estimated 9.1% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($54.3 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 9.1% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to roughly 6.7% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Chad’s total economic performance, albeit based on relatively short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic health is its unemployment rate. Chad’s jobless rate averaged 0.9% for 2024, down from an average 1% in 2023 according to Trading Economics metrics.

Chad’s capital city is N’Djamena.

See also Germany’s Top Trading Partners, Uganda’s Top 10 Exports, Somalia’s Top 10 Exports and Top African Export Countries

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Chad. Accessed on December 17, 2025

FlagPictures.org, Flag of Chad. Accessed on December 17, 2025

Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on December 17, 2025

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on December 17, 2025

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on December 17, 2025

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on December 17, 2025

Wikipedia, Chad. Accessed on December 17, 2025

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Chad. Accessed on December 17, 2025