That calculated dollar amount reflects a 150.7% acceleration from 5 years earlier in 2020 when Sierra Leonean exports were $611.7 million.
Year over year, the value of Sierra Leone’s exports slowed to 1.8% compared to $1.51 billion during 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, the leone (Sierra Leone’s legal currency) diluted by -56.1% against the US dollar since 2020 and depreciated by -1% from 2023 to 2024. Sierra Leone’s weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Sierra Leone’s 5 biggest export products by value are iron ores and concentrates, titanium ores and concentrates, cocoa beans, unset diamonds then niobium or zirconium ores and concentrates. Collectively, Sierra Leone’s five most valuable exports represent over four-fifths (85.1%) of all exported goods from the West African country. Such a high percentage suggests a concentrated portfolio of exports.
Sierra Leone’s Key Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data from 2018 shows that 90.5% of products exported from Sierra Leone were bought by importers in: mainland China (18.3% of Sierra Leone’s global total), South Korea (14%), Netherlands (13.5%), Somalia (10.8%), Ghana (8%), Romania (7.8%), Germany (5.3%), Guinea (4.5%), Senegal (3%), Ivory Coast (1.9%), Belgium (1.8%) and India (1.6%).
From a continental perspective, 34.8% of Sierra Leone’s exports by value was delivered to fellow African countries while 34.5% was sold to importers in Asia. Sierra Leone shipped another 30.1% worth of goods to Europe.
Tinier percentages went to North America (0.5%), Latin America (0.08%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania’s Australia only (0.02%).
Given Sierra Leone’s population of 8.97 million people, its total US$1.53 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $170 for every resident in the West African nation. That dollar metric lags the average $180 per capita one year earlier in 2023.
Sierra Leone’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Sierra Leonean 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 Sierra Leone.
- Ores, slag, ash: US$1.2 billion (76.3% of total exports)
- Cocoa: $147.7 million (9.6%)
- Gems, precious metals: $50.3 million (3.3%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $21.9 million (1.4%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $16.7 million (1.1%)
- Machinery including computers: $16.3 million (1.1%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $13.7 million (0.9%)
- Iron, steel: $10.9 million (0.7%)
- Fish: $9.1 million (0.6%)
- Aluminum: $8.9 million (0.6%)
Sierra Leone’s top 10 exports accounted for 95.5% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Cocoa was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 182.7% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was coffee, tea and spices via a 176.8% advance mostly led by coffee.
Sierra Leone’s shipments of electrical machinery and equipment posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 40.7%.
The leading decliner among Sierra Leone’s top 10 export categories were the metals iron and steel thanks to a -56.4% year-over-year drop.
Drilling down to 4-digit HTS codes, Sierra Leone’s most valuable exported products in 2024 were: iron ores and concentrates (55.3% of the country’s total exports), titanium ores and concentrates (14%), coco beans (9.5%), unmounted and unset diamonds (3.2%), niobium or zirconium ores and concentrates (3.1%), aluminum ores and concentrates (1.6%), miscellaneous ores and concentrates (1.5%), palm oil (0.9%), coffee (also 0.9%) then iron or steel scrap (0.6%).
Products Behind Sierra’s Leone’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Sierra Leonean 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.
- Ores, slag, ash: US$1.2 billion (Down by -3.1% since 2023)
- Cocoa: $141.9 million (Up by 191.7%)
- Gems, precious metals: $49.6 million (Down by -44.7%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $13.1 million (Up by 65.5%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $11.3 million (Up by 296.7%)
- Fish: $7.1 million (Down by -29.7%)
- Copper: $6.1 million (Up by 40.5%)
- Glass: $909,000 (Reversing a -$2.3 million deficit)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $142,000 (Reversing a -$28,000 deficit)
- Collector items, art, antiques: $80,000 (Down by -19.2%)
Sierra Leone has highly positive net exports in the international trade of ores and concentrates including iron, titanium and aluminum. In turn, these cashflows indicate Sierra Leone’s strong competitive advantages under the ores, slag and ash product category.
Products Causing Sierra’s Leone’s Worst Trade Deficits
Sierra Leone racked up an estimated -US$581.9 million trade deficit for 2024 expanding by 12.1% compared to -$519.2 million in red ink one year earlier in 2023.
Below are exports from Sierra Leone that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Sierra Leone’s goods trail Sierra Leonean importer spending on foreign products.
- Cereals: -US$237.5 million (Up by 52.1% since 2023)
- Machinery including computers: -$226.1 million (Up by 1.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$178.6 million (Down by -5.9%)
- Vehicles: -$134.6 million (Up by 8.2%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$134.5 million (Up by 87%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$111.1 million (Up by 6.1%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$105 million (Up by 14.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$85.2 million (Up by 9.4%)
- Meat: -$67.4 million (Up by 53.4%)
- Iron, steel: -$42.4 million (Up by 50.4%)
Historically weighed down by negative trade balances for imported rice and to a lesser extent wheat and corn, Sierra Leone has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the cereals category.
Sierra Leonean Export Companies
Not one Sierra Leonean corporation ranks among the Forbes Global 2000 list.
Wikipedia lists companies from Sierra Leone that participate in international trade transactions. Selected examples are shown below.
- Fly 6ix (airliner)
- Rokel Commercial Bank (commercial banking)
- Sierra Leone Brewery Limited (alcoholic beverages)
- Sierra Leone Commercial Bank (commercial banking)
- Union Trust Bank (commercial banking)
In macroeconomic terms, Sierra Leone’s total exported goods represent 5.1% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($30.3 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 5.1% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 8.5% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Sierra Leone’s total economic performance, albeit based on a relatively short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s financial health is its unemployment rate. In 2024, Sierra Leone’s jobless rate averaged 3.13% down modestly from its average 3.15% unemployment rate in 2023.
Sierra Leone’s capital city is Freetown.
See also China’s Top Trading Partners, South Sudan’s Top 10 Exports, Somalia’s Top 10 Exports and Top African Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Sierra Leone. Accessed on October 20, 2025
Forbes 2020 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 20, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 20, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 20, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 20, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Sierra Leone. Accessed on October 20, 2025
Wikipedia, Flag of Sierra Leone. Accessed on October 20, 2025
Wikipedia, Sierra Leone. Accessed on October 20, 2025
Wise, Sierra Leone Leone to US Dollar Historical Exchange Rates. Accessed on October 20, 2025