Year over year, Ethiopia’s most recent dollar amount represents a -7.3% decline from $3.1 billion starting from 2022.
Based on average exchange rates, the Ethiopian birr shrank by -87.8% against the US dollar since 2019 and depreciated by -5.5% from 2022 to 2023. Ethiopia’s weaker local currency made Ethiopian exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Ethiopia’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 67.4% of products exported from Ethiopia was bought by importers in: Saudi Arabia (10.4% of the Ethiopian total), United States of America (9.7%), Netherlands (7.6%), United Arab Emirates (5.7%), Somalia (5%), India (4.9%), Germany (4.7%), mainland China (4.6%), South Korea (4.1%), Japan (3.6%), Israel (also 3.6%) and Djibouti (3.4%).
From a continental perspective, 51.1% of Ethiopia’s exports by value was delivered to Asian countries while 23.2% was sold to importers in Europe. Ethiopia shipped another 14% worth of goods to Africa.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in North America (10.5%), Oceania mostly Australia and New Zealand (1%) and Latin America (0.2%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Given Ethiopia’s population of 105.7 million people, its total $2.86 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $25 for every resident in the northeast African nation. That dollar amount lags the average per capita of about $30 one year earlier during 2022.
Ethiopia’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Ethiopian global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Ethiopia.
- Coffee, tea, spices: US$1.2 billion (43.2% of total exports)
- Vegetables: $499.3 million (17.5%)
- Oil seeds: $424.2 million (14.8%)
- Live trees, plants, cut flowers: $262 million (9.2%)
- Meat: $63 million (2.2%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $59.8 million (2.1%)
- Machinery including computers: $57.9 million (2%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $34.4 million (1.2%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $23.9 million (0.8%)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $20.3 million (0.7%)
Ethiopia’s top 10 exports accounted for 93.7% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Machinery including computers was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 354.7% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was oil seeds: via a 49.17% gain.
Ethiopia’s shipments of cereal or milk preparations posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 49.16%.
The leading decliner among Ethiopia’s top 10 export categories was unknitted and non-crocheted clothing and accessories thanks to a -30.8% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, coffee represents Ethiopia’s most valuable exported product generating over two-fifths (42.9%) of the country’s total.
In second place were trailed by oil seeds (9%), dried shelled vegetables (also 9%), fresh or dried flowers for bouquets or ornamental purposes (8.1%), miscellaneous fresh or chilled vegetables (6.5%), soya beans (4.6%), sheep or goat meat (2.1%), miscellaneous live plants (1.1%), oil seed flour or meal (1%), then bread, biscuits, cakes and pastries (0.8%).
Products Attracting Ethiopia’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Ethiopian 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.
- Coffee, tea, spices: US$1.2 billion (Down by -19.1% since 2022)
- Oil seeds: $402.6 million (Up by 49.5%)
- Vegetables: $323.3 million (Down by -3.3%)
- Live trees, plants, cut flowers: $256.9 million (Up by 2.7%)
- Meat: $62.4 million (Down by -30.8%)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $20.2 million (Down by -16.7%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $18.6 million (Down by -61.8%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $11.8 million (Down by -17.8%)
- Live animals: $10.2 million (Down by -43.4%)
- Paper yarn, woven fabric: $7.6 million (Up by 142.9%)
Ethiopia has highly positive net exports in the international trade of coffee. In turn, these cashflows indicate Ethiopia’s strong competitive advantages under the coffee, tea and spices product category.
Products Causing Ethiopia’s Worst Trade Deficits
Ethiopia incurred an overall -US$14.2 billion trade deficit during 2023, resulting from a 5.3% expansion from the -$13.5 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2022.
Below are exports from Ethiopia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Ethiopia’s goods trail its importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$2.65 billion (Up by 146.2% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.9 billion (Up by 17.2%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1.3 billion (Down by -2.4%)
- Vehicles: -$1.3 billion (Down by -12.6%)
- Fertilizers: -$1.2 billion (Down by -7.7%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$828.9 million (Up by 1.6%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: -$746.4 million (Down by -47.2%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$674.7 million (Down by -14%)
- Iron, steel: -$671.8 million (Up by 18.3%)
- Cereals: -$572.1 million (Down by -57.2%)
Ethiopia has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the mineral fuels including oil plus the machinery including computers product categories.
Ethiopian Export Companies
Given that Ethiopia is an emerging economy, it should come as no surprise that not one Ethiopian corporation appears on the Forbes Global 2000 list.
Wikipedia does document some Ethiopian export companies. Selected examples are shown below.
- Ambo Mineral Water (bottled mineral water)
- Ethio Telecom (mobile, fixed line, broadband services)
- Marathon Motors Engineering (automobiles)
- Yebbo Communication Network (software, websites)
- Yousran International (sesame seeds, spice seeds, edible oils)
According to global trade intelligence firm Zepol, the following companies are examples of Ethiopian exporters representing diverse industries.
- A Oil Seeds and Cereals Export (beans including kidney beans)
- Haicof Limited (coffee)
- Harar Brewery Share (malt beer)
- Max Export (polypropylene)
- Packtra (polyesters, lamps)
In macroeconomic terms, Ethiopia’s total exported goods represent 0.7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($396.8 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 0.7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 0.9% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Ethiopia’s total economic performance, albeit based on relatively short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Ethiopia’s unemployment rate was an estimated 18.95% for 2023, up from an average 18.9% one year earlier in 2022 per Trading Economics metrics.
Ethiopia’s capital city is Addis Ababa.
See also Ethiopia’s Top Trading Partners, Ethiopia’s Top 10 Imports, China’s Top Trading Partners, India’s Top Trading Partners and Top African Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on August 7, 2024
Forbes, Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on August 7, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on August 7, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on August 7, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on August 7, 2024
The World Bank, Official Exchange Rate (LCU per US$, period average) – Ethiopia. Accessed on August 7, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Ethiopia. Accessed on August 7, 2024
Zepol’s company summary highlights by country. Accessed on August 7, 2024