That dollar amount results from a 48.3% increase from $4.1 billion five years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the value of Cameroonian exports dropped by -23.1% compared to $7.9 billion starting from 2022.
Based on its average exchange rate for 2023, Cameroon’s legal currency is the Central African (CFA) franc which diluted by -3.5% against the US dollar since 2019 but appreciated by 2.8% from 2022 to 2023. Cameroon’s weaker local currency compared to 2019 makes Cameroonian exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Cameroon’s 5 main exports are crude oil, petroleum gases, cocoa beans, sawn wood, and bananas including plantains. Combined, that quintet of major Cameroonian export products represents 83.3% of the Central African country’s export sales. Such a high percentage reveals a concentrated portfolio of export goods.
Cameroon’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data from 2021 shows that 82.4% of products exported from Cameroon was bought by importers in: mainland China (25.8% of the Cameroonian total), Netherlands (12.4%), India (9.6%), Italy (7.1%), Spain (6.1%), Bangladesh (4%), Chad (3.8%), Belgium (3.6%), France (3%), United States of America (2.6%), Vietnam (2.2%) and South Korea (2.1%).
From a continental perspective, 50.9% of Cameroon’s exports by value was delivered to Asian countries while 34.6% was sold to importers in Europe. Cameroon shipped another 10% worth of goods to fellow African nations.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in North America (4.4%), Latin America (0.14%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania’s Australia and Marshall Islands only (0.01%).
Given Cameroon’s population of 28.6 million people, its total $6.06 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $210 for every resident in the central-west African country. That dollar metric lags the average $225 per capita one year earlier in 2022.
Cameroon’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Cameroonian global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Cameroon.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$3.6 billion (59.4% of total exports)
- Cocoa: $994.2 million (16.4%)
- Wood: $719.4 million (11.9%)
- Fruits, nuts: $254.3 million (4.2%)
- Aluminum: $96.2 million (1.6%)
- Gems, precious metals: $73 million (1.2%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $62.5 million (1%)
- Cotton: $37.6 million (0.6%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $31.6 million (0.5%)
- Copper: $17.6 million (0.3%)
Cameroon’s top 10 exports accounted for 97.2% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Cocoa was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 34.9% from 2022 to 2023.
The leading decliner among Cameroon’s top 10 export categories was gems and precious metals, pulled down by a -73.5% year-over-year drop. Shrinking revenue from exported gold was the major factor for that decline.
The above-listed product categories are presented at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the more detailed 4-digit HTS codes, Cameroon’s top 10 most valuable exports are crude oil (40% of the country’s total revenues), petroleum gases (18.5%), cocoa beans (12.4%), sawn wood (8.2%), bananas including plantains (4.1%), rough wood (2.3%), cocoa paste (2.1%), cocoa butter, fat and oil (1.8%), unwrought aluminum (1.4%), and unwrought gold (1.2%).
Products Generating Cameroon’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Cameroonian 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.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$3.2 billion (Down by -21.5% since 2022)
- Cocoa: $988.5 million (Up by 34.9%)
- Wood: $715 million (Down by -22.9%)
- Fruits, nuts: $244.3 million (Down by -10.4%)
- Gems, precious metals: $66.9 million (Down by -75.3%)
- Copper: $12.8 million (Down by -14%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $11.4 million (Down by -22.1%)
- Lead: $10.1 million (Up by 14.4%)
- Collector items, art, antiques: $1.8 million (Down by -28.4%)
- Miscellaneous animal-origin products: $251,000 (Down by -25.3%)
Cameroon has highly positive net exports in the international trade of crude oil and petroleum gases. In turn, these cashflows indicate Cameroon’s strong competitive advantages under the mineral fuels including oil category.
Products Causing Cameroon’s Worst Trade Deficits
Overall Cameroon incurred an estimated -US$2.55 billion product trade deficit for 2023, expanding by 233.7% from -$763.2 million in red ink one year earlier in 2022.
Below are exports from Cameroon that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Cameroon’s goods trail Cameroonian importer spending on foreign products.
- Machinery including computers: -US$933.5 million (Up by 53.9% since 2022)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$693.8 million (Up by 12.7%)
- Vehicles: -$557.6 million (Down by -0.5%)
- Cereals: -$476.8 million (Down by -21.5%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$385.7 million (Down by -7.9%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$336.8 million (Up by 8%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$267.8 million (Up by 0.4%)
- Iron, steel: -$251 million (Down by -9.8%)
- Footwear: -$233.7 million (Up by 20.2%)
- Other chemical goods: -$228.9 million (Up by 6%)
Cameroon has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the related product categories machinery including computers plus electrical machinery and equipment.
Cameroonian Export Companies
Not one Cameroonian corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000 largest companies on a worldwide scale.
Wikipedia lists companies from Cameroon that participate in international trade transactions. Selected examples are shown below.
- Brasseries du Cameroun (beer)
- Cargo Airways International (industrial airliner)
- Commercial Bank Cameroon (bank)
- Elysian Airlines (industrial airliner)
- National Financial Credit Bank (bank)
- Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (oil, gas)
- Union Bank of Cameroon (bank)
In macroeconomic terms, Cameroon’s total exported goods represent 4.6% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($132.9 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 4.6% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 5.1% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Cameroon’s total economic performance, albeit based on a relatively short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Cameroon’s unemployment rate averaged 3.65% for 2023, down from an average 3.69% one year earlier according to Trading Economics metrics.
Cameroon’s capital city is Yaoundé nicknamed the “City of Seven Hills”.
See also South Africa’s Top 10 Exports, Nigeria’s Top 10 Exports, Kenya’s Top 10 Exports and Top African Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on September 22, 2024
FlagPictures.org, Flag of Cameroon. Accessed on September 22, 2024
Forbes, Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 22, 2024
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on September 22, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 22, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 22, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 22, 2024
Wikipedia, Cameroon. Accessed on September 22, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Cameroon. Accessed on September 22, 2024