That calculated dollar amount reflects a 75.3% increase from 5 years earlier in 2021 when Sierra Leonean exports were $1.05 billion.
Year over year, the value of Sierra Leone’s exports accelerated by 13.8% compared to $1.62 billion during 2024.
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 9.2 million people, its total US$1.84 billion in 2025 exports translates to roughly $200 for every resident in the West African nation. That dollar metric exceeds the average $170 per capita one year earlier in 2024.
Sierra Leone’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups categorize the highest dollar value in Sierra Leonean global shipments during 2025, 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$1.5 billion (79.4% of total exports)
- Cocoa: $206.2 million (11.2%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $22.2 million (1.2%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $16.5 million (0.9%)
- Gems, precious metals: $12.3 million (0.7%)
- Machinery including computers: $12.2 million (0.7%)
- Copper: $11.4 million (0.6%)
- Fish: $10.2 million (0.6%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $9.8 million (0.5%)
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $8.5 million (0.5%)
Sierra Leone’s top 10 exports accounted for 96.1% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Pharmaceuticals represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 294.5% from 2024 to 2025.
In second place for improving export sales was copper via a 78% advance.
Sierra Leone’s shipments of vegetable, fruit or nut preparations posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 46.5%.
The leading decliner among Sierra Leone’s top 10 export categories was gems and precious metals, thanks to a -90.2% year-over-year drop.
Drilling down to 4-digit HTS codes, Sierra Leone’s most valuable exported products in 2025 were: iron ores and concentrates (56% of the country’s total exports), coco beans (11.2%), titanium ores and concentrates (11%), aluminum ores and concentrates (9.7%), niobium or zirconium ores and concentrates (2.6%), palm oil (0.6%), unmounted and unset diamonds (also 0.6%), medication mixes in dosage (0.5%), electrical converters and power units (0.4%), then whole frozen fish (also 0.4%).
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$1.5 billion (Up by 25.1% since 2024)
- Cocoa: $197.3 million (Up by 40%)
- Gems, precious metals: $10.5 million (Down by -91.6%)
- Copper: $10.2 million (Up by 68.7%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $8.1 million (Down by -52.2%)
- Fish: $6.9 million (Down by -20%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $3.3 million (Down by -78.7%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $2.4 million (Up by 6,840%)
- Arms, ammunition: $1.7 million (Reversing a -$15,000 deficit)
- Lead: $1.3 million (2024 data unavailable)
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$472.1 million trade deficit for 2025 reducing by -27.1% compared to -$647.7 million in red ink one year earlier in 2024.
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.
- Machinery including computers: -US$292.8 million (Up by 23.63% since 2024)
- Vehicles: -$189.1 million (Up by 22.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$179.7 million (Down by -4.9%)
- Cereals: -$149.3 million (Down by -37.1%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$137.3 million (Up by 30.3%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$129 million (Up by 9.2%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$96.2 million (Up by 8.4%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$89.3 million (Down by -35.6%)
- Meat: -$83.6 million (Up by 23.4%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: -$55.7 million (Up by 24.9%)
Sierra Leone endured highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the machinery including computers product 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 5.7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2025 ($32.5 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 5.7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2025 compares to 5.1% for 2024. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing 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 2025, Sierra Leone’s jobless rate averaged 3.15% up modestly from its average 3.1% jobless rate in 2024.
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 September 8, 2026
Forbes 2021 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 8, 2026
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 8, 2026
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 8, 2026
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 8, 2026
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Sierra Leone. Accessed on September 8, 2026
Wikipedia, Flag of Sierra Leone. Accessed on September 8, 2026
Wikipedia, Sierra Leone. Accessed on September 8, 2026
Wise, Sierra Leone Leone to US Dollar Historical Exchange Rates. Accessed on September 8, 2026