That dollar metric results from a 49.4% increase from $4.7 billion five years earlier during 2020.
Year over year, the overall value of Honduran exports fell by -2.8% from $7.2 billion for 2023.
Previously called Spanish Honduras thus distinguishing the Central American republic from British Honduras (now Belize), Honduras shares its western border with Guatemala, southwest border with El Salvador and southeast border also with El Salvador. The republic’s south coastline is along the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca while the Honduran north coastline is surrounded by the Gulf of Honduras, a large Caribbean Sea inlet.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, Honduras uses the Honduran Lempira as its legal currency which appreciated by 0.4% against the US dollar since 2020 and increased by 0.3% from 2023 to 2024. The stronger Honduran currency in 2024 made goods exported from Honduras paid for in weaker US dollars relatively more expensive for international buyers.
Best Honduran Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 86.0% of products exported from Honduras was bought by importers in: United States of America (45% of the Honduran total), El Salvador (6.5%), Nicaragua (5.9%), Guatemala (5.7%), Germany (4.8%), Mexico (4.1%), Netherlands (2.8%), Dominican Republic (2.6%), Belgium (2.5%), Italy (2.3%), Costa Rica (2.2%) and Spain (1.75%).
From a continental perspective, 50.7% of Honduras’ exports by value was delivered to North America countries while 25.6% was sold to importers in Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean. Honduras shipped another 18.8% worth of goods to Europe.
Smaller percentages went to customers located in Asia (4.2%), Oceania’s Australia and New Zealand (0.7%), then Africa (0.1%).
Given Honduras population of 10.7 million people, its total $7 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $650 for every resident in the Central American country. That per-capita average lags the average $700 one year earlier in 2023.
Honduras Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Honduran global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Honduras.
- Electrical machinery, equipment: US$1.4 billion (20.1% of total exports)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $1.3 billion (18.6%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $520.1 million (7.5%)
- Fruits, nuts: $386.5 million (5.5%)
- Fish: $361 million (5.2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $261.7 million (3.8%)
- Gems, precious metals: $243.5 million (3.5%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $213.5 million (3.1%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $158.9 million (2.3%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $150.2 million (2.2%)
Honduras’ top 10 export product categories generated 71.6% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Electrical machinery and equipment was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 141.3% from 2020 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was cereal or milk preparations via a 120.8% advance.
Honduras’ shipments of plastics, both as materials and items made from plastic, posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 82%.
The leading decliner among Honduras’ top 10 export categories was fish, thanks to a -12% drop over the 5-year period.
The above listed product categories are at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the more detailed 4-digit HTS codes, Honduras’ most valuable exported products were coffee (18.4% of the Honduran total), insulated wire or cable (18.2%), palm oil (5.7%), crustaceans including lobsters (4.5%), bananas including plantains (3.4%), unwrought gold (2.8%), plastic packing goods including lids and caps (2.3%), cigars and cigarettes (2.1%), sugar (1.8%), then bread, biscuits, cakes and pastries (1.7%).
Products Generating Best Trade Surpluses for Honduras
The following types of Honduran 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.
- Coffee, tea, spices: US$1.3 billion (Up by 46.6% since 2020)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $360.4 million (Up by 3%)
- Fish: $344.9 million (Down by -13.2%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $319.2 million (Up by 2,089%)
- Fruits, nuts: $276.5 million (Down by -7.3%)
- Gems, precious metals: $232.1 million (Up by 52.9%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $197.2 million (Up by 19%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $98.5 million (Up by 60.6%)
- Vegetables: $67.2 million (Down by -16.1%)
- Copper: $31.3 million (Up by 241.8%)
The Honduras has positive net exports in the international trade of coffee, pepper, ginger and cardamoms. In turn, these positive cashflows indicate Honduras’ strong competitive advantages under the coffee, tea and spices product category.
Products Causing Largest Trade Deficits for Honduras
Honduras incurred a -US$7.54 billion trade deficit for 2024, expanding by 128% from -$7.21 billion in red ink five years earlier for 2020.
Below are exports from Honduras that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Honduras’ goods trail Honduran importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$2.6 billion (Up by 135% since 2020)
- Vehicles: -$1.5 billion (Up by 253.6%)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.1 billion (Up by 112%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$710.5 million (Up by 40.3%)
- Cereals: -$413.1 million (Up by 44.2%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: -$390.6 million (Up by 48.6%)
- Iron, steel: -$386.7 million (Up by 63.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$306.8 million (Up by 36.1%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: -$221.7 million (Up by 41.6%)
- Paper, paper items: -$212 million (Up by 32.2%)
Honduras has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits notably for refined petroleum oils under the mineral fuels-related product category.
These cashflow deficiencies also indicate Honduras’ competitive disadvantages in the processed fossil fuel market, but also represent key opportunities for Honduras to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations especially for alternative energy.
Honduran Export Companies
Not one Honduran corporation ranks among the companies showcased by the Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia does list companies from Honduras that engage in international business pursuits. Selected examples are shown below.
- AeroCaribe de Honduras (airliner)
- Aerolíneas Sosa (airliner)
- InterAirports (international airports administrator)
- New York and Honduras Rosario Mining Company (gold, silver)
- Tegu (toys)
In macroeconomic terms, Honduras’ total exported goods represent 8.6% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($81.1 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 8.6% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to an estimated 9.5% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Honduras’ total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe and estimated metrics.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Honduras’ unemployment rate averaged 8.005% in 2024, down from the average 8.082% jobless rate for 2023 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.
Tegucigalpa is the Honduran capital city.
See also Honduras Top 10 Imports, El Salvador’s Top 10 Exports, Coffee Exports by Country, Bananas Exports by Country and Palm Oil Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on April 29, 2025
EXCHANGE-RATES.org Honduran Lempira (HNL) to US Dollar, Exchange Rate History. Accessed on April 29, 2025
Forbes, 2020 Global 2000 rankingsThe World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 29, 2025
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on April 29, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 29, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 29, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 29, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on April 29, 2025
Wikipedia, Honduras. Accessed on April 29, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Honduras. Accessed on April 29, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on April 29, 2025