That dollar metric results from a 39% increase compared to Ivory Coast’s $11.8 billion in exported goods five-years earlier during 2018.
Year over year, Ivory Coast’s exports grew by 6.8% from $15.4 billion in 2021.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2022, Ivory Coast uses the West African CFA franc which depreciated by -12.3% against the US dollar since 2018 and decreased by -12.5% from 2021 to 2022. Ivory Coast’s weaker local currency 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, processed petroleum oils, unwrought gold, natural rubber, then then the cashews and coconuts product category. Collectively, those top 5 goods represent over three-fifths (61%) 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 65.2% of products exported from Ivory Coast were bought by importers in: Mali (8.9% of the Ivory Coast total), Netherlands (8.7%), Switzerland (8.1%), United States of America (5.3%), Burkina Faso (5.2%), France (4.5%), Malaysia (4.4%), mainland China (4.21%), Ghana (4.17%), India (4.12%), Belgium (4.06%) and Germany (3%).
From a continental perspective, almost two-fifths (38.6%) of Ivory Coast’s exports by value was delivered to European countries while 30.2% was sold to importers also in Africa. Ivory Coast shipped another 21.6% worth of goods to Asia.
Smaller percentages went to North America (7.4%), Oceania (1.3%) mostly Australia, then Latin America (0.9%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Given Ivory Coast’s population of 28.4 million people, its total $16.4 billion in 2022 exports translates to about $580 for every resident in the West African country. That dollar amount exceeds the average $465 per capita one year earlier during 2021.
Ivory Coast’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Ivoirian global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Ivory Coast.
- Cocoa: US$5 billion (30.2% of total exports)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $3 billion (18.5%)
- Gems, precious metals: $1.91 billion (11.7%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $1.86 billion (11.4%)
- Fruits, nuts: $1.2 billion (7.5%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $557 million (3.4%)
- Cotton: $398.3 million (2.4%)
- Ships, boats: $376.9 million (2.3%)
- Perfumes, cosmetics: $263.1 million (1.6%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $211.9 million (1.3%)
Ivory Coast’s top 10 exports accounted for 90.3% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 76% from 2021 to 2022.
In second place for improving export sales were miscellaneous food preparations via a 45.5% advance.
Ivory Coast’s shipments of animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 41.2%.
The leading decliners among Ivory Coast’s top 10 export categories were cocoa (down -17% from 2021) and exported cotton (down -12.3).
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, the Ivory Coast’s most valuable export products are cocoa beans (19.5% of the African country’s total) trailed by processed petroleum oils (12.4%), unwrought gold (11.7%), natural rubber (11.4%), cashews and coconuts (6.1%), crude oil (5.1%), cocoa paste (4.2%), palm oil (3.1%), cocoa butter, fat and oil (2.9%), then uncarded cotton (2.3%).
Products Generating Ivory Coast’s Best Trade Surpluses
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$5 billion (Down by -17.1% since 2021)
- Gems, precious metals: $1.9 billion (Up by 11.5%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $1.7 billion (Up by 21.8%)
- Fruits, nuts: $1.2 billion (Down by -9.5%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $450 million (Up by 33.7%)
- Cotton: $359.9 million (Down by -13.4%)
- Perfumes, cosmetics: $168.8 million (Up by 28.5%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $154 million (Up by 14.7%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $144 million (Up by 114.8%)
- Wood: $108.6 million (Down by -29.6%)
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
Ivory Coast faced an overall -$1.6 billion trade deficit for 2022 reversing a $1.4 billion trade surplus for one year earlier in 2021.
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$1.8 billion (Up by 160.1% since 2021)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.4 billion (Up by 16.9%)
- Cereals: -$1.15 billion (Up by 14.6%)
- Vehicles : -$1.06 billion (Down by -4.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$800.5 million (Up by 17.9%)
- Fish: -$738.3 million (Down by -0.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$607.4 million (Up by 18.5%)
- Ships, boats: -$530.9 million (Reversing a $34.3 million surplus)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$495 million (Up by 61.8%)
- Iron, steel: -$477.3 million (Up by 2.8%)
Ivory Coast has 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 8.9% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($185.1 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 8.9% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to 8.1% for 2021. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing 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 2.6% for 2022, down from the average 2.8% in 2021.
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:
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 5, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on June 5, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 5, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 5, 2023
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on June 5, 2023
Wikipedia, Ivory Coast. Accessed on June 5, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Ivory Coast. Accessed on June 5, 2023
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on June 5, 2023