That estimated dollar amount reflects a 41.1% upturn from $1 billion for 2018.
Year over year, the overall value of Rwandan exports fell by -8.1% compared to $1.6 billion during 2021.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2022, Rwanda’s legal currency is the Rwandan franc which depreciated by -19.7% against the US dollar since 2018 and diluted by -4.2% from 2021 to 2022. The weaker local Rwandan currency in 2022 made Rwanda’s exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively lesser expensive for international buyers.
The top 5 most valuable exports from Rwanda by value are unwrought gold, coffee, tea including flavored versions, sanitary towels and baby napkins or liners, then items made from flat-rolled or non-alloy steel.
Collectively, Rwanda’s 5 major export goods represent over three-quarters (77.3%) of Rwanda’s shipments in 2022. Such a high percentage indicates a highly concentrated portfolio of Rwandan exports.
Rwanda’s Most Valuable Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 91.6% of products exported from Rwanda was bought by importers in: United Arab Emirates (31.8% of the Rwandan total), Greece (19.2%), Democratic Republic of the Congo (10.7%), Kenya (8.1%), Zambia (6.9%), Australia (4.1%), Switzerland (2.9%), Ethiopia (1.8%), United States of America (1.69%), Central African Republic (1.66%), South Sudan (1.39%) and Congo (1.37%).
From a continental perspective, 34.9% of Rwanda’s exports by value were delivered to Asian countries while 32.7% was sold to importers in fellow African countries. Rwanda shipped another 26.4% worth of goods to Europe.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in Oceania’s Australia and New Zealand (4.2%), North America (1.8%), then Latin America (0.002%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Given Rwanda’s population of 13.3 million people, its total $1.44 billion in 2022 exports translates to roughly $110 for every resident in the Central African nation. That dollar estimate exceeds the average $31 per capita calculated for one year earlier in 2021.
Rwanda’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Rwandan global shipments during 2022, 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 Rwanda.
- Coffee, tea, spices: US$556 million (38.7% of total exports)
- Gems, precious metals: $456.2 million (31.8%)
- Iron, steel: $71.3 million (5%)
- Milling products, malt, starches: $59.2 million (4.1%)
- Miscellaneous manufactured articles: $58.7 million (4.1%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $43.4 million (3%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $41.7 million (2.9%)
- Vehicles: $18.3 million (1.3%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $12.6 million (0.9%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $9 million (0.6%)
Rwanda’s top 10 exports accounted for 92.4% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Miscellaneous manufactured articles represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 866.9% from 2021 to 2022.
In second place for improving export sales were the metals iron and steel exported from Rwanda via a 214.9% advance.
Rwanda’s shipments under the coffee, tea and spices product category posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 188.2%.
The biggest decliner among Rwanda’s top 10 export categories were cereal or milk preparations, pulled down by a -32.9% year-over-year drop.
The above listed product groups are at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the more granular four-digit codes, unwrought gold represents Rwanda’s most valuable exported product at 31.7% of the African country’s total. In second place was coffee (30.7%), tea including flavored versions (7.6%), sanitary towels and baby napkins or liners (4%), items made from flat-rolled or non-alloy steel (3.3%), flour or malt extract food preparations (3%), hydraulic cements (2.9%), wheat or meslin flour (2.7%), iron or non-alloy steel bars and rods (1.6%), then armored vehicles including tanks (0.9%).
Products Generating Rwanda’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Rwandan 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$549.9 million (Up by 194.9% since 2021)
- Gems, precious metals: $455.7 million (Reversing a -$3.9 million deficit)
- Miscellaneous manufactured articles: $47 million (Reversing a -$7 million deficit)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $29.3 million (Down by -29.8%)
- Live animals: $7.5 million (Down by -10.9%)
- Live trees, plants, cut flowers: $4.4 million (Down by -46.8%)
- Gums, resins, other vegetable saps: $3.2 million (Up by 56.3%)
- Plaiting products, basketware, wickerwork: $1.6 million (Up by 53.1%)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $525,000 (Down by -60.7%)
- Collector items, art, antiques: $94,000 (Down by -59.1%)
Rwanda has highly positive net exports in the international trade of coffee and tea. In turn, these cashflows indicate Rwanda’s strong competitive advantages under the coffee, tea and spices product category.
Products Causing Rwanda’s Worst Trade Deficits
Rwanda incurred an estimated -$1.93 billion trade deficit for 2022, falling by -11.2% from -$2.17 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2021.
Below are exports from Rwanda that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Rwanda’s goods trail Rwandan importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$576 million (Up by 90.7% since 2021)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$252.5 million (Down by -33.3%)
- Machinery including computers: -$224.9 million (Up by 14.2%)
- Cereals: -$175.7 million (Up by 27.6%)
- Vehicles: -$161.1 million (Up by 85.3%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: -$117 million (Down by -2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$111.7 million (Up by 6.2%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$109.9 million (Down by -3.4%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$104 million (Down by -9.9%)
- Fertilizers: -$98.6 million (Up by 82.4%)
Rwanda has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for refined petroleum oils and, to a lesser extent, petroleum gases under the mineral fuels including oil product category.
Rwandan Export Companies
Not one Rwandan corporation ranks on the Forbes Global 2000 list.
Wikipedia lists companies from Rwanda that are involved in export-related activities. Selected examples are shown below.
- Access Bank Rwanda (commercial bank)
- Bralirwa Brewery (beer, soft drinks)
- Great Lakes Energy (electricity)
- Rwanda Development Bank (financing institution)
- Terracom (mobile telecommunications)
In macroeconomic terms, Rwanda’s total exported goods represent an estimated .004% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($38 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 0.004% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to roughly .001% for 2021. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Rwanda’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of economic health is a country’s jobless rate. Rwanda’s unemployment rate averaged 13.01% for 2022, down from an average 13.31% in 2021.
Rwanda’s capital city is Kigali.
See also South Sudan’s Top 10 Exports, Somalia’s Top 10 Exports, Top African Export Countries and South Africa’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on June 23, 2023
Forbes, Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on June 23, 2023
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on June 23, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on June 23, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on June 23, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on June 23, 2023
Wikipedia, Flag of Rwanda. Accessed on June 23, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Rwanda. Accessed on June 23, 2023
Wikipedia, Rwanda. Accessed on June 23, 2023
World’s Capital Cities, Capital Facts for Kigali, Rwanda. Accessed on June 23, 2023