That dollar metric results from a 65% acceleration compared to Ivory Coast’s $12.5 billion in exported goods five-years earlier during 2020.
Year over year, Ivory Coast’s exports advanced by 11.9% from $18.4 billion starting in 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, Ivory Coast uses the West African CFA franc which depreciated by -4.9% against the US dollar since 2020 but remained stable from 2023 to 2024. Ivory Coast’s weaker local currency compared to 2020 makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Ivory Coast’s biggest top 5 most valuable exports are cocoa beans, unwrought gold, natural rubber, processed petroleum oils then the cocoa paste product category. Collectively, those top 5 goods represent over three-fifths (62.7%) of the total value for all Ivory Coast’s exports. That percentage suggests a concentrated portfolio of exported products.
Ivory Coast’s Key Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 68.9% of products exported from Ivory Coast was bought by importers in: Switzerland (13.4% of the African country’s total), Netherlands (12.2%), Mali (8.1%), United States of America (4.5%), Germany (4.2%), France (4.1%), Vietnam (4.04%), Belgium (4.01%), Burkina Faso (3.8%), mainland China (3.55%), Spain (3.49%) and Malaysia (3.48%).
From a continental perspective, half (50.1%) of Ivory Coast’s exports by value was delivered to European countries while 23.2% was sold to importers also in Africa. Ivory Coast shipped another 18.6% worth of goods to buyers in Asia.
Smaller percentages went to customers located in North America (6.7%), Latin America (1.3%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.1%) mostly Australia and New Zealand.
Given Ivory Coast’s population of 32 million people, its total $20.5 billion in 2024 exports translates to about $650 for every resident in the West African country. That dollar amount outpaces the average $590 per capita one year earlier during 2023.
Ivory Coast’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Ivoirian global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Ivory Coast.
- Cocoa: US$7.2 billion (35% of total exports)
- Gems, precious metals: $3.14 billion (15.3%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $3.11 billion (15.1%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $2.5 billion (12%)
- Fruits, nuts: $1.5 billion (7.3%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $357 million (1.7%)
- Cotton: $294.5 million (1.4%)
- Perfumes, cosmetics: $280 million (1.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $207.7 million (1%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $169.3 million (0.8%)
Ivory Coast’s top 10 exports accounted for 91.1% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Gems and precious metals represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 34% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was cotton via a 31.3% upturn.
Ivory Coast’s shipments of cocoa posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 23.7%.
The leading decliner among Ivory Coast’s top 10 export categories was perfumes and cosmetics, pulled down by a -2.6% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, the Ivory Coast’s most valuable export products are cocoa beans (19.4% of the African country’s total) trailed by unwrought gold (15.3%), natural rubber (12%), processed petroleum oils (10%), cocoa paste (6%), cashews and coconuts (5.9%), cocoa butter, fat and oil (4.3%), crude oil (3.9%), cocoa waste including shells and husks (3.5%), then palm oil (1.5%).
Products Generating Ivory Coast’s Best Trade Surpluses
Ivory Coast enjoyed an estimated US$3.3 billion trade surplus for 2024, reversing a -$478.6 million deficit one year earlier in 2023.
The following types of Ivoirian 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.
- Cocoa: US$7.2 billion (Up by 23.7% since 2023)
- Gems, precious metals: $3.1 billion (Up by 33.6%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $2.3 billion (Up by 21.4%)
- Fruits, nuts: $1.5 billion (Down by -0.2%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $320.7 million (Up by 13.9%)
- Cotton: $262.8 million (Up by 38.8%)
- Perfumes, cosmetics: $164.6 million (Down by -11.2%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $125.1 million (Up by 157.4%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $123.5 million (Down by -14.6%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $97.9 million (Up by 51%)
Ivory Coast has highly positive net exports in the international trade of cocoa. In turn, these cashflows indicate Ivory Coast’s strong competitive advantages under the cocoa product category.
Products Causing Ivory Coast’s Largest Trade Deficits
Below are exports from Ivory Coast that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Ivory Coast’s goods trail Ivoirian importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$1.52 billion (Down by -20.4% since 2023)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.45 billion (Up by 1%)
- Cereals: -$1.3 billion (Up by 28.1%)
- Vehicles: -$1.1 billion (Down by -9.6%)
- Fish: -$884.3 million (Up by 6.8%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$638.9 million (Down by -21.2%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$520.8 million (Up by 9.8%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$468.1 million (Down by -10.5%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$444.9 million (Down by -15.5%)
- Iron, steel: -$334.9 million (Down by -9.2%)
Historically, Ivory Coast has faced highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for crude oil and petroleum gases under the mineral fuels including oil product category.
Ivory Coast’s Export Companies
Not one Ivoirian corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists exports-related companies from Ivory Coast. Selected examples are shown below.
- Abidjan Transport Company (transportation infrastructure)
- Autonomous Port of Abidjan (commercial seaport)
- Ivoirienne de Transports Aériens (cargo airliner)
In macroeconomic terms, Ivory Coast’s total exported goods represent 8.4% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($244.5 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 8.4% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 9.1% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Ivory Coast’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Statistics from Trading Economics put Ivory Coast’s average unemployment rate at 2.3% for 2024, equal to the average 2.3% jobless rate in 2023.
Ivory Coast’s capital city is Yamoussoukro, which is also home to the world’s highest domed church.
See also South Africa’s Top 10 Exports, Ghana’s Top 10 Exports, Angola’s Top 10 Exports and Nigeria’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
EXCHANGE-RATES.org CFA BCEAO Franc (XOF) To US Dollar (USD), Exchange Rate History. Accessed on August 9, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 9, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 9, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 9, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on August 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Ivory Coast. Accessed on August 9, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Ivory Coast. Accessed on August 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on August 9, 2025