That dollar amount results from a 25% increase from $7.2 billion 5 years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of North Macedonian exported goods rose 3% compared to $8.73 billion starting from 2023.
Resolving a dispute with Greece over its name, “Macedonia” was renamed as the Republic of North Macedonia effective February 1, 2019.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, the Macedonian denar depreciated by -3.6% against the US dollar since 2019 but appreciated by 2.8% from 2022 to 2023. North Macedonia’s weaker local currency compared to 2019 makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
North Macedonia’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 82.1% of products exported from North Macedonia was bought by importers in: Germany (44.1% of the Macedonian total), Serbia (9.7%), Bulgaria (4.4%), Greece (3.68%), Hungary (3.65%), Belgium (3.61%), Czech Republic (2.51%), Italy (2.48%), Slovakia (2.3%), Türkiye (2.2%), Spain (2%) and Romania (1.6%).
From a continental perspective, 94.7% of North Macedonia’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 4% was sold to importers in Asia. North Macedonia shipped another 0.8% worth of goods to buyers North America.
Tinier percentages went to customers in Africa (0.2%), Oceania (0.12%) mostly Australia, and Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (0.10%).
Given North Macedonia’s population of 1.83 million people, its total $9 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $4,900 for every resident in the southeastern European nation. That dollar metric exceeds the average $4,200 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
North Macedonia’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in North Macedonian global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from North Macedonia.
- Miscellaneous chemical goods: US$2.6 billion (28.8% of total exports)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $1.5 billion (16.7%)
- Vehicles: $533.1 million (5.9%)
- Iron, steel: $499.4 million (5.6%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $445.7 million (5%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $370.2 million (4.1%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $349 million (3.9%)
- Machinery including computers: $323.7 million (3.6%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $221.1 million (2.5%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $208.1 million (2.3%)
North Macedonia’s top 10 export product categories accounted for 78.2% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Vehicles represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 30.7% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was the furniture, bedding, lighting, signs and prefabricated buildings category via a 28.8% advance.
North Macedonia’s shipments of electrical machinery and equipment posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 18.7%.
The leading decliner among North Macedonia’s top 10 export categories was the iron and steel metals product category, recording a -29.8% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, North Macedonia’s most valuable export goods are initiators, accelerators and other catalytic devices (28.6% of North Macedonia’s total), insulated wire and cable (7.7%), seats excluding barber and dentist chairs (3.9%), public transport vehicles (2.8%), electrical energy (2.8%), automobile parts or accessories (also 2.8%), hot-rolled iron or non-alloy steel products (2.7%), electrical or optical circuit boards or panels (2.5%), medication mixes in dosage (1.9%), then centrifuges, filters and purifiers (1.8%).
Products Driving North Macedonia’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of North Macedonian 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.
- Miscellaneous chemical goods: US$2.4 billion (Down by -2.2% since 2022)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $295.7 million (Up by 39.7%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $268.7 million (Up by 10.3%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $196.8 million (Up by 3.5%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: $94.6 million (Up by 16.7%)
- Vegetables: $68.3 million (Up by 20.7%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $53.1 million (Down by -0.8%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $48.1 million (Up by 23.2%)
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $36.3 million (Up by 1%)
- Railways, streetcars: $18.5 million (Up by 12.9%)
North Macedonia has highly positive net exports in the international trade of miscellaneous chemical products. In turn, these cashflows indicate North Macedonia’s strong competitive advantages under the category named other chemical goods.
Products Causing North Macedonia’s Worst Trade Deficits
North Macedonia incurred an overall -US$3.1 billion trade deficit for 2023, reducing by -24.1% from -$4.03 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2022.
Below are exports from North Macedonia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country North Macedonia’s goods trail North Macedonian importer spending on foreign products.
- Gems, precious metals: -US$1.21 billion (Down by -15.9% since 2022)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$1.2 billion (Down by -36.2%)
- Ceramic products: -$466.1 million (Up by 9.7%)
- Machinery including computers: -$441.9 million (Up by 22.1%)
- Inorganic chemicals: -$374.4 million (Down by -40.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$297.7 million (Down by -1.1%)
- Meat: -$165.5 million (Up by 21.4%)
- Aluminum: -$125.1 million (Down by -5.4%)
- Coated/laminated textile fabric: -$123.2 million (Up by 28.5%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$117.8 million (Up by 14.9%)
Notably, North Macedonia has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the gems and precious metals plus the mineral fuels-related product categories.
North Macedonian Export Companies
Not one North Macedonian corporation ranks among the companies on the Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists export-related businesses from North Macedonia. Selected examples are shown below.
- Aktiva (steel)
- Alkaloid (pharmaceuticals)
- FAS Sanos (commercial vehicles, trucks)
- Makpetrol (oil, gas)
- OKTA (oil, gas)
- ONE.VIP (mobile telecommunications)
- Teteks (textiles, clothing)
- Tutunski kombinat Prilep (tobacco)
In macroeconomic terms, North Macedonia’s total exported goods represent 19.1% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($47.1 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 19.1% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 21% one year earlier. Those percentages indicate a decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for North Macedonia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of an economy’s health is the unemployment rate. North Macedonia’s unemployment rate averaged 13.05% for 2023, down from an average 14.375% jobless rate in 2022.
North Macedonia’s capital city is Skopje, the birthplace for Mother Teresa.
See also Bulgaria’s Top Trading Partners, United Kingdom’s Top Trading Partners and Greece’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, Country Profiles, The World Factbook. Accessed on November 15, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 15, 2024
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on November 15, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on November 15, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on November 15, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 15, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on November 15, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of North Macedonia. Accessed on November 15, 2024
Wikipedia, North Macedonia. Accessed on November 15, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on November 15, 2024