That calculated dollar amount results from a -48% drop from 5 years earlier in 2019 when Burundi’s overall exports were worth $180.8 million.
Year over year, overall sales for Burundian exported goods plunged by -50.3% compared to $188.9 million starting from 2022.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, Burundi’s legal currency is the Burundian franc which depreciated by -39.5% against the US dollar since 2019 and weakened by -26.5% from 2022 to 2023. Its weaker local currency in 2023 made Burundian exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively lesser expensive for international buyers.
Burundi’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 88.3% of products exported from Burundi was bought by importers in: United Arab Emirates (28.3% of the Burundian total), Democratic Republic of the Congo (19.8%), Belgium (7.9%), Pakistan (6.3%), Switzerland (5.4%), Tanzania (5.1%), Sudan (4.6%), Egypt (3.2%), United Kingdom (2.5%), Oman (2%), Germany (1.9%) and Ethiopia (1.4%).
From a continental perspective, 40.1% of Burundi’s exports by value was delivered to fellow African countries while 38.8% was sold to importers in Asia. Burundi shipped another 19.3% worth of goods to buyers in Europe.
Tinier percentages went to customers in North America (1.3%), Oceania’s New Zealand and Australia (0.5%) then Latin America (0.01%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Given Burundi’s population of 13 million people, its total $93.9 million in 2023 exports translates to roughly $7 for every resident in the central eastern African country. That dollar metric lags the average $15 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
Burundi’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Burundian global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Burundi.
- Coffee, tea, spices: US$65.2 million (69.5% of total exports)
- Gems, precious metals: $14.8 million (15.7%)
- Iron, steel: $2.74 million (2.9%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $2.69 million (2.9%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $1.03 million (1.1%)
- Copper: $1 million (1.01%)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $979,000 (1%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: $902,000 (1%)
- Machinery including computers: $674,000 (0.7%)
- Soaps, washing preparations, lubricants, waxes: $504,000 (0.5%)
Burundi’s top 10 export product categories accounted for 92.6% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Salt, sulphur, stone and cement was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 2,553% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was copper via a 2,312% advance.
Burundi’s shipments of raw hides, skins not furskins and leather posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 269.4%.
The leading decliner among Burundi’s top 10 export categories was mineral fuels including oil, pulled down by an -82.1% year-over-year drop.
The above listed product categories are at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the more granular four-digit HTS codes, coffee achieved status as Burundi’s most valuable exported product at 57.1% of the African country’s total for 2023. In second place was unwrought gold (15.7%) trailed by tea including flavored versions (12.4%), tin ores and concentrates (2.8%), iron or non-alloy steel bars and rods (2.4%), processed petroleum oils (1.1%), copper waste and scrap (also 1.1%), hydraulic cements (0.8%), bovine or equine rawhides and skins (also 0.8%), then organic surface-active products including soap (0.5%).
The top 10 exports at the more detailed level account for 94.6% of overall Burundian international sales.
Products Generating Burundi’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Burundian 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.
The product categories below generated the greatest surplus amounts for Burundi.
- Coffee, tea, spices: US$64.6 million (Down by -2.4% since 2022)
- Gems, precious metals: $14.6 million (Down by -71.4%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $2.6 million (Down by -23.5%)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $943,000 (Up by 304.7%)
- Copper: $618,000 (Reversing a -$175,000 deficit)
- Fruits, nuts: $114,000 (Down by -70.7%)
- Live trees, plants, cut flowers: $79,000 (Up by 464.3%)
- Woodpulp: $8,000 (Up by 700%)
Burundi has highly positive net exports in the international trade of coffee and, to a lesser extent, tea. In turn, these cashflows indicate Burundi’s strong competitive advantages under the coffee, tea and spices product category.
Products Causing Burundi’s Worst Trade Deficits
Burundi incurred an overall -US$561.3 million trade deficit for 2023, reducing by -44.7% from -$1 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2022.
Below are exports from Burundi that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Burundi’s goods trail Burundian importer spending on foreign products.
- Fertilizers: -US$66.4 million (Down by -12.6% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: -$50.1 million (Down by -24.8%)
- Salt, sulphur, stone, cement: -$43.4 million (Up by 10.4%)
- Vehicles: -$43 million (Down by -44.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$42.7 million (Down by -4%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$36.3 million (Down by -37%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$24.9 million (Down by 0.02%)
- Iron, steel: -$22.7 million (Down by -67.5%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$21.1 million (Down by -39.2%)
- Milling products, malt, starches: -$20.9 million (Up by 646.3%)
Burundi has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade under the fertilizers product category.
Burundian Export Companies
Not one Burundian corporation ranks among the Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists businesses from Burundi that participate in international trade transactions. Selected examples are shown below.
- Air Burundi (airliner)
- Brarudi (brewery)
- FinBank Burundi (commercial bank)
- Interbank Burundi (commercial bank)
- KCB Bank Burundi Limited (commercial bank)
In macroeconomic terms, Burundi’s total exported goods represent an estimated 0.7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($12.6 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 0.7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 1.8% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Burundi’s total economic performance, albeit based on a relatively short timeframe.
One lagging indicator for economic health is a country’s jobless rate. Burundi’s unemployment rate averaged 0.9% for 2023, same as an average 0.9% during 2022 according to Trading Economics metrics.
Burundi’s capital city is Bujumbura.
See also Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Top 10 Exports, Uganda’s Top 10 Exports, Somalia’s Top 10 Exports and Top African Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on November 13, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 13, 2024
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on November 13, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on November 13, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on November 13, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 13, 2024
Wikipedia, Burundi. Accessed on November 13, 2024
Wikipedia, Flag of Burundi. Accessed on November 13, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Burundi. Accessed on November 13, 2024