That projected dollar amount reflects a 9.8% increase from $34.8 billion 5 years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of Angolan exports fell by -25.4% compared to $51.3 billion during 2022.
Based on its average exchange rate for 2023, the Angolan kwanza depreciated by -87.8% against the US dollar since 2019 and diluted by -48.7% from 2022 to 2023. Angola’s weaker local currency makes the southwest African country’s exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively lesser expensive for international buyers.
Angola’s 3 most valuable export products are crude oil, petroleum gases, and unset diamonds. Collectively, that trio of major products was worth 98.1% of the overall value of Angolan exports for 2023.
Angola’s Top Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 87.9% of products exported from Angola was bought by importers in: mainland China (42.7% of the Angolan total), India (9.9%), France (7.1%), Netherlands (6.8%), Spain (4.4%), Italy (3.7%), United Arab Emirates (3.2%), United Kingdom (2.7%), Canada (2.3%), Indonesia (1.8%), Thailand (also 1.8%) and Portugal (1.4%).
From a continental perspective, 63.7% of Angola’s exports by value was delivered to buyers in Asian countries while 27.9% was sold to importers in Europe. Angola shipped another 3.6% worth of goods to North America.
Smaller percentages went to customers in Africa (2.6%), Latin America (2.2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.05%) led by Vanuatu, Marshall Islands and Australia.
Given Angola’s population of 36.8 million people, its total $38.2 billion exported goods translates to roughly $1,050 for every resident in the southwest African country. That dollar metric lags the average $1,400 per capita one year earlier in 2022.
Angola’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Angolan global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Angola.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$35.9 billion (93.9% of total exports)
- Gems, precious metals: $1.9 billion (4.9%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $111.9 million (0.3%)
- Fish: $47 million (0.1%)
- Iron, steel: $44.9 million (0.1%)
- Aluminum: $40 million (0.1%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $35.7 million (0.1%)
- Copper: $30.4 million (0.1%)
- Wood: $19.9 million (0.05%)
- Glass: $17.7 million (0.05%)
Angola’s top 10 export product categories accounted for 99.8% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Copper was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 749% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was aluminum via a 623.4% advance.
Angola’s shipments of food industry waste and animal fodder posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 135.2%.
The leading decliner among Angola’s top 10 export categories was wood, recording a -60.1% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, crude oil represents Angola’s most valuable exported product worth 85.1% of the African nation’s total. In second place were petroleum gases (8.1%) trailed by unmounted and unset diamonds (4.9%), processed petroleum oils (0.7%), monumental and building stones including granite (0.2%), bran and residues (0.1%), unwrought aluminum (0.1%), hydraulic cements (0.1%), refined copper and unwrought alloys (0.1%), then lobsters and other crustaceans (also 0.1%).
Products Driving Angola’s Best Trade Surpluses
Overall Angola achieved an estimated US$25.8 billion trade surplus for 2023, slipping by -23.2% from the $33.6 billion in black ink one year earlier in 2022.
The following types of Angolan 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 reflect 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$34.8 billion (Down by -20% since 2022)
- Gems, precious metals: $1.9 billion (Down by -4.8%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $97.6 million (Down by -37.7%)
- Fish: $29.4 million (Up by 9.4%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $19.1 million (Reversing a -$4.1 million deficit)
- Lead: $6 million (Reversing a -$954,000 deficit)
- Fruits, nuts: $2.9 million (Reversing a -$4.4 million deficit)
Angola has highly positive net exports in the international trade of crude oil and, to a lesser extent, petroleum gases. In turn, these cashflows indicate Angola’s strong competitive advantages under mineral fuels including oil category.
Products Causing Angola’s Worst Trade Deficits
Below are exports from Angola that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Angola’s goods trail Angolan importer spending on foreign products.
- Machinery including computers: -US$2 billion (Down by -9.9% since 2022)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1.1 billion (Up by 14%)
- Vehicles: -$864.3 million (Down by -38.2%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$641.2 million (Up by 9.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$505.4 million (Down by -8.5%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: -$417.8 million (Up by 106.8%)
- Ships, boats: -$405 million (Down by -138.3%)
- Cereals: -$386.9 million (Down by -52.7%)
- Meat: -$347.6 million (Down by -39.9%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$295.4 million (Down by -12%)
Angola has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the machinery including computers product category.
Angolan Export Companies
No Angolan corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists exports-related companies from Angola. Selected examples are shown below.
- Angola Cables (fibreoptics)
- Angola LNG (natural gas)
- Cuca beer (alcoholic beverages)
- Endiama (diamonds)
- Secil Maritima (shipping)
- Sonangol Group (oil, gas)
- Transafrik International (cargo airliner)
- Unitel Angola (mobile phones)
In macroeconomic terms, Angola’s total exported goods represent 14.8% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($258 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 14.8% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 20.7% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Angola’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of an economy’s health is its unemployment rate. Angola’s jobless rate was 32.4% at March 2024, up from its 29.7% jobless rate earlier in December 2023.
Angola’s capital city is Luanda.
See also China’s Top Trading Partners, Nigeria’s Top 10 Exports, South Africa’s Top 10 Exports and South Africa’s Top 100 Imported Consumer Products
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on October 5, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 5, 2024
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates (selected indicators). Accessed on October 5, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 5, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 5, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 5, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on October 5, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Angola. Accessed on October 5, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on October 5, 2024