That calculated dollar amount results from a -63.1% drop over the 5-year period starting from $1.64 billion in 2020.
Year over year, Yemen’s total revenues from exports slowed by -23.8% compared to $1.07 billion for 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, the Yemeni rial appreciated by 0.03% against the US dollar since 2020. Yemen’s modestly stronger local currency makes its exports paid for in weaker US dollars more expensive for international buyers starting from American dollars.
The top 5 most valuable products exported from Yemen are iron or steel scrap, fresh whole fish, frozen whole fish, moluscs then onions, garlic and leeks. Collectively, those 5 leading exports generated almost one-half (47%) of the total value of Yemen’s exported goods for 2024.
Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East. Geographically, the Arab nation shares borders with Saudi Arabia to its north, Oman to its east and northeast, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to its south and the Red Sea to its west.
Yemen’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data from 2015 shows that 88.6% of products exported from Yemen were bought by importers in: Saudi Arabia (35.6% of Yemen’s global total), Oman (18.8%), Somalia (7.3%), Japan (6%), United Arab Emirates (5.1%), Egypt (3.4%), United States of America (2.6%), Germany (2.4%), Djibouti (2.3%), United Kingdom (1.9%), Thailand (1.6%), then mainland China (1.5%).
Given its population of 40.6 million people, Yemen’s total US$817.9 in 2024 exports translates to roughly $20 for every resident in the Middle Eastern country. That per-capita average exceeds the $15 per person one year earlier in 2023.
Yemen’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Yemeni global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Yemen.
- Fish: US$251.3 million (30.7% of total exports)
- Iron, steel: $96.3 million (11.8%)
- Fruits, nuts: $90 million (11%)
- Vegetables: $71 million (8.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $61.2 million (7.5%)
- Copper: $48.2 million (5.9%)
- Aluminum: $33.2 million (4.1%)
- Gems, precious metals: $31.1 million (3.8%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $29.8 million (3.7%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $23.1 million (2.8%)
By value, Yemen’s top 10 export categories accounted for 96.1% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Iron and steel represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 328.5% from 2020 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was aluminum via a 267.1% advance.
Yemen’s shipments of plastics, both as materials and items made from plastic, posted the third-fastest gain in value up by 167.5%.
The leading decliner among Yemen’s top 10 export categories was gems and precious metals, thanks to a -84.6% year-over-year drop.
Please note that the results listed above are at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level.
At the more detailed 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, iron or steel scrap represents Yemen’s most valuable exported product at 11.8% of the Middle Eastern country’s total. In second place were fresh whole fish (9.7%) trailed by frozen whole fish (8.8%), moluscs (8.6%), onions, garlic and leeks (8.2%), electronic waste (7.3%), guavas, mangoes and figs (5.4%), copper scrap (also 5.4%), miscellaneous fresh fruits (4%) then aluminum scrap (also 4%).
Products Generating Yemen’s Top Trade Surpluses
The following types of Yemeni 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 is 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.
- Fish: US$250.3 million (Up by 40.5% since 2023)
- Vegetables: $46.5 million (Reversing a -$39.5 million deficit)
- Fruits, nuts: $35.8 million (Reversing a -$57.4 million deficit)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $9.4 million (Down by 34.2%)
- Miscellaneous animal-origin products: $8.1 million (Up by 466.7%)
- Lead: $2.9 million (Up by 253.4%)
- Vegetable plaiting materials: $1.2 million (Up by -67.8%)
- Collector items, art, antiques: $987,000 (Up by 215.3%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $69,000 (Reversing a -$39,000 deficit)
- Arms, ammunition: $26,000 (Reversing a -$23,000 deficit)
Yemen has highly positive net exports in the international trade of fish. In turn, these cashflows indicate Yemen’s strong competitive advantages under the related product category.
Products Causing Yemen’s Top Trade Deficits
Overall, Yemen incurred a projected -US$8.2 billion trade deficit for 2024, withering by -26.6% from -$11.2 billion during 2023.
Below are exports from Yemen that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Yemen’s goods trail Yemeni importer spending on foreign products.
- Cereals: -US$1.3 billion (Up by 9.7% since 2023)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$525.6 million (Up by -3.5%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: -$490.7 million (Up by 12.9%)
- Vehicles: -$470.5 million (Up by -41%)
- Iron, steel: -$465.6 million (Up by -11.8%)
- Machinery including computers: -$414.3 million (Up by -15%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$356.7 million (Up by -24.4%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: -$321.6 million (Up by 0%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$269.7 million (Up by -31.8%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: -$234 million (Up by -27.5%)
Yemen has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for cereals, historically wheat, rice and corn (in that order).
Yemeni Export Companies
The following companies are selected examples of leading companies headquartered in Yemen:
No Yemeni company appears on the Forbes 2024 Global 2000 rankings.
Wikipedia does list some exporters from Yemen. Selected examples are shown below:
- Hayel Saeed Anam Group (multi-product conglomerate)
- TeleYemen (telecommunications)
- Yemen LNG (petroleum)
- Yemen Oil and Gas Corporation (petroleum)
- YemenSoft Inc (enterprise/accounting software)
In macroeconomic terms, Yemen’s total exported goods represent 1.2% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($69.2 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 1.2% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 0.8% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Yemen’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Yemen’s unemployment rate averaged 17.1% for 2024, same as the average 17.1% one year earlier in 2023 per Trading Economics metrics.
Yemen’s capital city is Sana’a.
See also Yemen’s Top 10 Imports, Saudi Arabia’s Top 10 Exports, Oman’s Top 10 Exports and Crude Oil Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Kenya. Accessed on November 25, 2025
EXCHANGE-RATES.org, Exchange Rate History (Yemeni Rial (YER) To US Dollar (USD)). Accessed on November 25, 2025
Forbes 2024 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 25, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on November 25, 2025
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on November 25, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 25, 2025
Wikipedia, Category: Companies of Yemen by industry. Accessed on November 25, 2025
Wikipedia, Yemen. Accessed on November 25, 2025