That projected dollar amount results from a -21% drop from $707.6 million 5 years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of exported products from the Solomon Islands decreased by -2.2% compared to $571.2 million starting from 2022.
The top 5 most valuable exports from the Solomon Islands by value are rough wood, preserved or prepared fish including caviar, unwrought gold, precious metal ores and concentrates, then palm oil. Combined, that quintet of leading exports represents 84.5% of the overall value of Solomon Islands’ international shipments. Such a high a percentage indicates a relatively concentrated portfolio of exported goods.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, the Solomon Islands dollar depreciated by -2.5% against the US dollar since 2019 and diluted by -2.7% from 2022 to 2023. Solomon Islands’ weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Solomon Islands’ Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 94.3% of products exported from the Solomon Islands were bought by importers in: mainland China (66.8% of the Solomon Islands’ global total), Italy (7.2%), India (5.1%), Switzerland (2.4%), Thailand (2.1%), Taiwan (2%), Netherlands (1.92%), Philippines (1.88%), Malaysia (1.5%), Hong Kong (1.4%), United Kingdom (1.1%) and Singapore (0.9%).
From a continental perspective, 83.8% of the Solomon Islands’ exports by value were delivered to Asian countries while 13.1% were sold to importers in Europe.
Solomon Islands shipped another 2.7% worth of goods to Oceania led by Australia and New Zealand, with a smaller percentage going to North America (0.5%).
Given Solomon Islands’ population of 769,000 people, its total $558.9 million in 2023 exports translates to about $730 for every resident on these Oceanian islands. That dollar metric is less than the average $760 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
Solomon Islands’ Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Solomon Islander global shipments during 2023 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 Solomon Islands.
- Wood: US$295.1 million (52.8% of total exports)
- Meat/seafood preparations: $79.1 million (14.1%)
- Gems, precious metals: $59.4 million (10.6%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $40.6 million (7.3%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $37.6 million (6.7%)
- Fish: $20 million (3.6%)
- Cocoa: $9.9 million (1.8%)
- Oil seeds: $7.3 million (1.3%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $2.7 million (0.5%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $2.1 million (0.4%)
Solomon Islands’ top 10 export product categories accounted for 99% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Gems and precious metals represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 163% from 2022 to 2023. That product category was propelled by greater revenues from its gold exports.
In second place for improving export sales was electrical machinery and equipment via a 79.5% advance.
Solomon Islands’ shipments of cocoa posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 56.3%.
The leading decliner among Solomon Islands’ top 10 export categories was food industry waste and animal fodder, thanks to a -31% slowdown year over year.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, rough wood represents the Solomon Islands’ most valuable exported product at 49.4% of the country’s total. In second place was preserved and prepared fish and caviar (14.1%) trailed by unwrought gold (10.6%), precious metal ores and concentrates (5.8%), palm oil (4.6%), frozen whole fish (3.5%), coconut, palm or babassu oils (2.6%), cocoa beans (1.8%), sawn wood (1.7%) then veneer sheets (1.6%).
Products Generating Best Trade Surpluses for Solomon Islands
The following types of Solomon Islander product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus in 2023. 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.
- Wood: US$292.4 million (Down by -21% since 2022)
- Meat/seafood preparations: $72.4 million (Up by 32.8%)
- Gems, precious metals: $59.3 million (Up by 163.6%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $37.6 million (Reversing a -$26,000 deficit)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $34.6 million (Down by -28.7%)
- Cocoa: $9.5 million (Up by 55.5%)
- Oil seeds: $7.2 million (Down by -15.8%)
- Miscellaneous animal-origin products: $284,000 (Down by -35.9%)
- Collector items, art, antiques: $217,000 (Up by 201.4%)
- Vegetable plaiting materials: $167,000 (2022 data unavailable)
Solomon Islands has positive net exports notably in the international trade of timber-related products. In turn, these cashflows indicate Solomon Islands’ strong competitive advantages under the wood category.
Products Causing Worst Trade Deficits for Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands generated an overall -US$3.8 million product trade deficit for 2023, reversing $30.1 million in black ink one year earlier for 2022.
Below are exports from Solomon Islands that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Solomon Islands’ goods trail Solomon Islander importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$73.4 million (Down by -38.4% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: -$58.6 million (Up by 15.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$44.9 million (Up by 89.6%)
- Vehicles: -$37.3 million (Up by 43.4%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$32.4 million (Down by -11.2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$28.5 million (Up by 1.6%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: -$18 million (Up by 57.4%)
- Cereals: -$16.7 million (Up by 8.9%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: -$14.9 million (Up by 22.8%)
- Meat: -$14.8 million (Up by 25.6%)
Solomon Islands has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the mineral fuels including oil category, notably red ink for crude petroleum oil and petroleum gas.
Solomon Islander Export Companies
Not one Solomon Islander corporation ranks among the Forbes Global 2000 listing.
Wikipedia lists a couple of entities from Solomon Islands that participate in international trade. Two examples are shown below.
- Central Bank of Solomon Island (governing bank)
- Solomon Airlines (airliner)
In macroeconomic terms, Solomon Islands’ total exported goods represent 28.5% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($1.964 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 28.5% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 34.2% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Solomon Islands’ total economic performance, albeit based on a relatively short timeframe.
Another key indicator of economic performance is its unemployment rate. Solomon Islands’ unemployment rate averaged 1.545% in 2023, up from an average 1.579% one year earlier for 2022 according to Trading Economics metrics.
Solomon Islands’ capital city is Honiara.
See also Australia’s Top 10 Exports, Australia’s Top Trading Partners, New Zealand’s Top 10 Exports and Top Oceanian Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Australia-Oceania: Solomon Islands. Accessed on November 6, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’ Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 6, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on November 6, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on November 6, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 6, 2024
Wikipedia, Category:Companies of the Solomon Islands by industry. Accessed on November 6, 2024
Wikipedia, Flag of Solomon Islands. Accessed on November 6, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on November 6, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on November 6, 2024
Wikipedia, Solomon Islands. Accessed on November 6, 2024