That dollar amount results from a 60.4% advance from 5 years earlier in 2020 when Senegalese exports totaled $3.93 billion.
Year over year, the overall value of Senegal’s exported goods accelerated by 18.7% compared to $5.32 billion during 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, Senegal uses the West African CFA franc which depreciated by -4.9% against the US dollar since 2020 but remained stable from 2023 to 2024. Senegal’s weaker local currency compared to 2020 makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Senegal’s Best Exports Customers
The latest available country-specific data shows that 76.7% of products exported from Senegal was bought by importers in: Mali (20.8% of the Senegalese total), Switzerland (12%), mainland China (11.4%), India (9.2%), Spain (4%), United States of America (3.5%), Italy (3.1%), Guinea (3%), Ivory Coast (2.72%), Gambia (2.71%), Australia (2.3%) and Netherlands (2.1%).
From a continental perspective, 39.3% of Senegal exports by value was delivered to fellow African countries while 28.5% was sold to importers based in Europe. Senegal shipped another 25.4% worth of goods to customers based in Asia.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in North America (4.1%), Oceania (2.5%) led by Australia and New Zealand, then Latin America (0.2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Given Senegal’s population of 18.7 million people, its total $6.31 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $340 for every resident in the West African nation. That dollar metric eclipses the average $300 per capita one year earlier during 2023.
Senegal’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Senegalese 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 Senegal.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$2.1 billion (32.7% of total exports)
- Gems, precious metals: $930.8 million (14.7%)
- Inorganic chemicals: $439.9 million (7%)
- Fish: $435.8 million (6.9%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $333.1 million (5.3%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $291.9 million (4.6%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $184.9 million (2.9%)
- Iron, steel: $145.3 million (2.3%)
- Oil seeds: $129.1 million (2%)
- Fruits, nuts: $127.1 million (2%)
Senegal’s top 10 exports generated over four-fifths (80.5%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 80.8% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was ores, slag and ash: via a 20.6% upturn led by nobium, zirconium and titanium ores or concentrates.
Senegal’s shipments of oil seeds posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 11.4%.
The leading decliner among Senegal’s top 10 export categories was fruits and nuts, recording a -27.1% 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 HTS codes, refined petroleum oils represent Senegal’s most valuable exported product collecting 20.3% of the country’s total export revenues. In second place was unwrought gold (14.7%) trailed by crude oil (12.1%), phosphoric or polyphosphoric acids (6.9%), frozen whole fish (3.5%), hydraulic cements (2.8%), titanium ores and concentrates (2.6%), soups and broths (2.4%), nobium or zirconium ores and concentrates (2%), then prepared or preserved fish and caviar (1.7%).
Products Generating Senegal’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Senegalese 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.
- Gems, precious metals: US$926.6 million (Up by 6.5% since 2023)
- Fish: $383.6 million (Down by -10.7%)
- Inorganic chemicals: $362.7 million (Down by -3.5%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $283.8 million (Up by 18.5%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $228.1 million (Up by 19.4%)
- Meat/seafood preparations: $104.6 million (Up by 42.6%)
- Oil seeds: $101.1 million (Up by 11.5%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: $95.5 million (Up by 7.2%)
- Fruits, nuts: $74 million (Down by -44.7%)
- Feathers, artificial flowers, hair: $69 million (Up by 2.7%)
Senegal has highly positive net exports in the international trade of gold. In turn, these cashflows indicate Senegal’s strong competitive advantages under the gems and precious metals product category.
Products Causing Senegal’s Worst Trade Deficits
Senegal incurred an overall -US$5.1 billion trade deficit for 2024, shrinking by -22.6% from -$6.6 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2023.
Below are exports from Senegal that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Senegal’s goods trail Senegalese importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$1.5 billion (Down by -36% since 2023)
- Cereals: -$885.6 million (Down by -2%)
- Machinery including computers: -$850.7 million (Down by -9.4%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$650.4 million (Up by 7.5%)
- Vehicles: -$645.4 million (Down by -10.6%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$350.9 million (Up by 5.9%)
- Ships, boats: -$321 million (Up by 56.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$273.9 million (Up by 1.4%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$263.8 million (Down by -37.5%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: -$211.6 million (Up by 5.6%)
Historically, Senegal incurs highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits notably for petroleum oils (both refined and crude), coal and petroleum gases under the mineral fuels-related product category.
Senegalese Export Companies
Not one Senegalese corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists export-related companies from Senegal. Selected examples are shown below.
- Dakar–Niger Railway (industrial transportation)
- Groupement Aérien Sénégalais (airliner)
- Senelec (electricity)
- Sonatel (telecommunications)
In macroeconomic terms, Senegal’s total exported goods represent 6.7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($94.7 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 6.7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 6.8% one year earlier. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Senegal’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of an economy’s health is its unemployment rate. Senegal’s jobless rate averaged 21.7% for March 2025, down from its average 23.2% unemployment rate one year prior based on Trading Economics metrics.
Senegal’s capital city is Dakar.
See also India’s Top Trading Partners, Switzerland’s Top Trading Partners, Top African Export Countries and Rice Exports by Country
Research Sources:
EXCHANGE-RATES.org CFA BCEAO Franc (XOF) To US Dollar (USD), Exchange Rate History. Accessed on August 27, 2025
Central Intelligence Agency, Country Profiles, The World Factbook. Accessed on August 27, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 27, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 27, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 27, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 27, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on August 27, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Senegal. Accessed on August 27, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on August 27, 2025
Wikipedia, Senegal. Accessed on August 27, 2025