That dollar amount results from a 60.4% increase from $14.8 billion five years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of Cambodian exports accelerated via a 15.6% upturn compared to $20.6 billion worth of international sales for 2022.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, the Cambodian riel depreciated by -1.2% against the US dollar since 2019 and weakened by -0.2% from 2022 to 2023. The weaker Cambodian currency in 2023 made Cambodia’s exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively lesser expensive for international buyers.
Cambodia’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 77.7% of products exported from Cambodia was bought by importers in: United States of America (37.4% of the Cambodian total), Vietnam (6.5%), mainland China (6.2%), Japan (4.9%), Canada (3.7%), Germany (3.4%), United Kingdom (3.3%), Spain (3%), Singapore (2.6%), Thailand (2.4%), Netherlands (also 2.4%) and Belgium (1.8%).
From a continental perspective, 41.7% of Cambodia’s exports by value was delivered to North American countries while 28.1% was sold to importers in Asia. Cambodia shipped another 18.9% worth of goods to Europe.
Smaller percentages went to Oceania (1.6%) mostly Australia and New Zealand, Latin America (0.6%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Africa (0.4%).
Given Cambodia’s population of 17 million people, its total $23.8 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $1,400 for every resident in the southeastern Asian country. That dollar metric exceeds the average $1,300 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
Cambodia’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Cambodian global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Cambodia.
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: US$5.5 billion (23% of total exports)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $3.1 billion (13.2%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $2.4 billion (10.1%)
- Cereals: $1.9 billion (8%)
- Leather/animal gut articles: $1.7 billion (7.2%)
- Footwear: $1.4 billion (5.7%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $949.4 million (4%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $889.6 million (3.7%)
- Gems, precious metals: $888.4 million (3.7%)
- Vegetables: $764.1 million (3.2%)
By value, Cambodia’s top 10 exports accounted for 81.9% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Vegetables represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 10,742% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was cereals via a 357.9% advance, propelled by higher international sales of rice and, to a much lesser degree, corn.
Cambodia’s shipments of gems and precious metals posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 239.7%.
The leading decliner among Cambodia’s top 10 export categories was footwear, pulled down by a -21.4% year-over-year drop.
The above information is presented at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down from the more granular four-digit HTS code perspective, solar power diodes or semi-conductors represent Cambodia’s most valuable exported good generating 9% of total Cambodian export sales.
In second place was rice (7.9%) trailed by cases, handbags and wallets (6.9%), knitted or crocheted jerseys and pullovers (6.5%), knitted or crocheted women’s clothing (4.1%), unknitted and non-crocheted women’s clothing (3.9%), unwrought gold (3.5%), manioc roots, arrowroot and sweet potatoes (3.1%), knitted or crocheted t-shirts and vests (2.7%) then insulated wire or cable (2.5%).
Products Creating Cambodia’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Cambodian 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.
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: US$5.4 billion (Down by -14.4% since 2022)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $2.3 billion (Down by -10.8%)
- Cereals: $1.8 billion (Up by 410.3%)
- Leather/animal gut articles: $1.7 billion (Down by -8.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $1.6 billion (Up by 191%)
- Footwear: $1.1 billion (Down by -22.8%)
- Vegetables: $744.9 million (Reversing a -$480,000 deficit)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs, prefabricated buildings: $676.2 million (Down by -12.8%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $645.8 million (Up by 310.3%)
- Fruits, nuts: $643.6 million (Up by 219%)
Cambodia has highly positive net exports in the international trade of apparel. In turn, these cashflows indicate Cambodia’s strong competitive advantages under the clothing and accessories product categories.
Products Causing Cambodia’s Largest Trade Deficits
Cambodia incurred an overall -US$631.7 million trade deficit in 2023. That amount of red ink represents a -93.3% reduction from Cambodia’s -$9.4 billion deficit one year earlier for 2022.
Below are exports from Cambodia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Cambodia’s goods trail Cambodian importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$3.4 billion (Down by -7.6% since 2022)
- Knit or crochet fabric: -$2.5 billion (Down by -10.2%)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.1 billion (Down by -11.1%)
- Manmade staple fibers: -$1.1 billion (Down by -8.5%)
- Other chemical goods: -$980.7 million (Up by 66%)
- Vehicles: -$776.5 million (Down by -42.2%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$732.4 million (Down by -10.8%)
- Cotton: -$546.9 million (Up by 10.2%)
- Aluminum: -$527.8 million (Down by -25.5%)
- Paper, paper items: -$503.6 million (Down by -13.4%)
Cambodia has negative net exports and therefore international trade deficits notably for refined petroleum oils, coal, electrical energy and petroleum gas under the mineral fuels including oil product category.
Cambodian Export Companies
Not one Cambodian corporation ranks among companies showcased on the Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists exports-related companies from Cambodia. Selected examples are shown below.
- Cambrew Brewery (alcoholic beverages)
- Comin Khmere (construction & materials)
- Kampot Cement (construction resources)
- Kingdom Breweries (alcoholic beverages)
- Sokimex (oil, gas)
- The Royal Group (conglomerate)
In macroeconomic terms, Cambodia’s total exported goods represent 18.1% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($131.1 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 18.1% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 23% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Cambodia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a relatively short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Cambodia’s unemployment rate averaged 0.22% in 2023, down from an average 0.23% for 2022 according to statistics from Trading Economics.
Cambodia’s capital city is Phnom Penh, nicknamed the “Pearl of Asia” and “The Charming City”.
See also China’s Top 10 Imports, Japan’s Top Trading Partners, Canada’s Top Trading Partners, Vietnam’s Top 10 Exports and Thailand’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on August 30, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 30, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 30, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 30, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 30, 2024
Wikipedia, Cambodia. Accessed on August 30, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on August 30, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Cambodia. Accessed on August 30, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on August 30, 2024