That dollar amount results from a 4.7% upturn from $2 billion 5 years earlier during 2019.
Year over year, overall sales of Eswatini’s exports grew by 5.3% compared to $1.99 billion for 2022.
Eswatini (or Eswatini) is a landlocked nation in southern Africa surrounded by South Africa and Mozambique on its northeastern border.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, Eswatini’s official currency is the Swazi lilangeni. Eswatini’s currency shrank by -27.7% against the US dollar since 2019 and diluted by -12.8% from 2022 to 2023. Consequently, Eswatini’s weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Eswatini’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 91.4% of products exported from Eswatini was bought by importers in: South Africa (67.5% of the Swazi total), Kenya (4.3%), Mozambique (3.9%), Nigeria (3.3%), Zimbabwe (2.3%), Tanzania (1.7%), Uganda (1.63%), Italy (1.62%), Botswana (also 1.62%), United States of America (1.4%), Portugal (1.3%) and Zambia (0.8%).
From a continental perspective, 90.6% of Eswatini’s exports by value was delivered to fellow African countries while 7.2% were sold to importers in Europe. Eswatini shipped another 1.4% worth of goods to North America.
Tinier percentages went to Asia (0.8%), Latin America (0.007%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania’s Australia, Tokelau and New Zealand (0.006%).
Given Eswatini’s population of 1.176 million people, its total $2.1 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $1,800 for every resident in the southern African country. That dollar metric lags the average $2,050 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
Eswatini’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Swazi global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Eswatini.
- Perfumes, cosmetics: US$586.4 million (28% of total exports)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $477.3 million (22.8%)
- Other chemical goods: $282.2 million (13.5%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $145.5 million (6.9%)
- Wood: $135.5 million (6.5%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $75.4 million (3.6%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $60.7 million (2.9%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $49.3 million (2.4%)
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $39.7 million (1.9%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $36.2 million (1.7%)
Eswatini’s top 10 exports generated 90.1% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Cereal or milk preparations represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 59.6% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was the mineral fuels including oil category via a 35.4% advance.
Eswatini’s shipments of sugar including sugar confectionery posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 20.6%.
The leading decliner among Eswatini’s top 10 export categories was knitted or crocheted clothing and accessories, recording a -20.9% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, Eswatini’s most valuable exported products in 2023 were scents used for beverage or industrial manufacturing (27.9%), sugar (18.8%), chemical industry products or residuals (13.4%), sawn wood (3.7%), coal including solid fuels made from coal (3.6%), unknitted and non-crocheted men’s suits and trousers (3.3%), unknitted and non-crocheted women’s clothing (2.5%), sugar confectionery excluding cocoa (2.1%), ethyl alcohol (2%) then Solid-form sugars, fructose, glucose and lactose (1.9%).
Products Generating Eswatini’s Best Trade Surpluses
Overall Eswatini achieved a US$57.1 million product trade surplus for 2023, reversing -$133.2 million in red ink one year earlier in 2022.
The following types of Swazi 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.
- Perfumes, cosmetics: US$533.6 million (Up by 1.5% since 2022)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $458.9 million (Up by 22.5%)
- Other chemical goods: $249.4 million (Up by 10.2%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $122.8 million (Down by -7.1%)
- Wood: $105.3 million (Up by 1.7%)
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: $27.1 million (Down by -32.1%)
- Vegetable/fruit/nut preparations: $18.7 million (Down by -1.9%)
- Miscellaneous textiles, worn clothing: $10.2 million (Down by -1.4%)
- Fruits, nuts: $6.7 million (Up by 11.5%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $4.7 million (Reversing a -$7.5 million deficit)
Eswatini has highly positive net exports in the international trade of perfumes and cosmetics. In turn, these cashflows indicate Eswatini’s strong competitive advantages under the perfumes and cosmetics product category.
Products Causing Eswatini’s Worst Trade Deficits
Below are exports from Eswatini that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Eswatini’s goods trail Swazi importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$306.3 million (Up by 0.8% since 2022)
- Vehicles: -$112.3 million (Up by 9.8%)
- Machinery including computers: -$98.6 million (Down by -9.1%)
- Cereals: -$86.9 million (Down by -2.5%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$86.1 million (Up by 3.6%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$71.3 million (Down by -12.5%)
- Cotton: -$60.4 million (Down by -27.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$49.6 million (Down by -9.8%)
- Organic chemicals: -$40.4 million (Up by 6%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$40.2 million (Down by -9.8%)
Eswatini has negative net exports and therefore international trade deficits notably for electrical energy and petroleum gases under the mineral fuels-related product category.
Examples of Eswatini’s Export Companies
Not one Swazi corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000 for 2023.
Wikipedia lists companies from Eswatini that support or are related to international trade transactions and processes. Selected examples are shown below.
- Central Bank of Eswatini (state-owned bank)
- Eswatini Airlink (state-owned airliner)
- Swazi Rail (state-owned railroad)
- Tibiyo TakaNgwane (media/sugar/real estate conglomerate)
In macroeconomic terms, Eswatini’s total exported goods represent 13.1% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($15.2 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 13.1% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 16% for 2022. These percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Eswatini’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of economic performance is a country’s jobless rate. In 2023, Eswatini’s unemployment rate averaged 37.64% down from an average 37.85% for 2022 according to Statista metrics.
Eswatini’s capital city is Mbabane.
See also South Africa’s Top 10 Exports, Mozambique’s Top 10 Exports and Kenya’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook report on Africa: Eswatini. Accessed on December 5, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on December 5, 2024
Foreign Trade , United States Census Bureau. Accessed on December 5, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on December 5, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on December 5, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on December 5, 2024
Wikimedia Commons, Flag of Eswatini. Accessed on December 5, 2024
Wikipedia, Eswatini. Accessed on December 5, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Eswatini. Accessed on December 5, 2024