That dollar amount reflects an -71.9% decrease from $42.5 million 5 years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the overall value of products exported from Tonga plunged by -80.7% compared to $61.9 million during 2022.
Based on average exchange rates for Tonga’s official currency in 2023, the Pa’anga depreciated by -3.2% against the US dollar since 2019 and diluted by -1.5% from 2022 to 2023. The weaker Pa’anga makes Tonga’s exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive.
Tonga’s 5 biggest exported product groups are: unused stamps, aircraft and spacecraft, Jerusalem artichokes plus manioc roots or tubers including sweet potatoes¸ heavy machinery including bulldozers and excavators, then frozen whole fish. Combined, those 5 product groups represent two-thirds (66.9%) of revenues collected for Tonga’s total goods exported in 2023.
Tonga’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 99.6% of products exported from Tonga was bought by importers in: New Zealand (57.9% of the Tongan total), Fiji (14.7%), United States of America (5.9%), Australia (5.3%), Japan (4.4%), United States Minor Outlying Islands (3.9%), Singapore (3.1%), Taiwan (2%), South Korea (1.6%), Papua New Guinea (0.35%), Niue (0.31%) and Samoa (0.27%).
Given Tonga’s population of 100,000 people, its total $11.9 million in 2023 exports translates to about $120 for every resident in the South Pacific nation. That dollar metric falls below the average $130 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
Tonga’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Tongan global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Tonga.
- Books, newspapers, pictures: US$3.5 million (29.3% of total exports)
- Vegetables: $1.9 million (15.9%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $1.64 million (13.7%)
- Machinery including computers: $1.17 million (9.8%)
- Fish: $1.1 million (8.9%)
- Vehicles: $675,000 (5.7%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $534,000 (4.5%)
- Oil seeds: $434,000 (3.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $314,000 (2.6%)
- Fruits, nuts: $259,000 (2.2%)
Tonga’s top 10 export product categories accounted for 96.2% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Aircraft and spacecraft represents the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 10,807% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was machinery including computers via a 2,674% advance.
Tonga’s shipments of optical, technical and medical apparatus posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 2,327%.
The leading decliner among Tonga’s top 10 export categories was oil seeds, pulled down by a -99.1% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular Harmonized Tariff System code tariff-line, Tonga’s most valuable exported products in 2023 were unused stamps (29.3% of Tonga’s global total), aircraft and spacecraft (13%), Jerusalem artichokes plus manioc roots or tubers including sweet potatoes (12.9%), heavy machinery including bulldozers, excavators and road rollers (6%), frozen whole fish (5.7%), trucks (4.6%), surveying, hydro and weather instruments (4.3%), fresh whole fish (3.1%), miscellaneous fresh or chilled vegetables (3%) then medicinal plants (2.8%).
Products Generating Tonga’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Tongan 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.
- Books, newspapers, pictures: US$3 million (Down by -40.6% since 2022)
- Oil seeds: $324,000 (Down by -99.3%)
- Miscellaneous animal-origin products: $24,000 (Down by -86.1%)
Tonga has highly positive net exports in the international trade of unused postage stamps. In turn, these cashflows indicate Tonga’s strong competitive advantages under the related product category.
Products Causing Tonga’s Worst Trade Deficits
Overall, Tonga incurred a -US$314.6 million product trade deficit for 2023, expanding by 48.6% from -$211.7 million in red ink in 2022.
Below are exports from Tonga that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Tonga’s goods trail Tongan importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$53 million (Down by -16.2% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: -$28.4 million (Up by 71.9%)
- Vehicles: -$24.3 million (Up by 37.7%)
- Meat: -$23.5 million (Up by 6.4%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$17.9 million (Down by -4.7%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: -$13.7 million (Up by 29.7%)
- Glass: -$12.1 million (Up by 3922.5%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$12.1 million (Up by 106.5%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: -$11.8 million (Up by 5.3%)
- Wood: -$8.7 million (Up by 1.5%)
Tonga has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for refined petroleum oils under the product category mineral fuels including oil.
Tongan Export Companies
Not one Tongan corporation ranks on the Forbes Global 2000 list.
Wikipedia lists several trade-related entities in Tonga. A couple of selected examples are shown below.
- Real Tonga (airliner)
- Tonga Ma’a Tonga Kautaha (copra/dried coconut cooperative)
Alibaba is an ecommerce repository where suppliers from Tonga do business. The following are Tongan businesses listed on Alibaba.
- HaiKuuLani Export (fresh kava, frozen taro/tapioca)
- Hingano Import/Export (Kava roots/powder)
- South Pacific MOZUKU (herbs, natural remedies)
- Tannchez (seafood, vegetables, fruits)
In macroeconomic terms, Tonga’s total exported goods represent 1.6% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($746 million valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 1.6% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 2% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Tonga’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of economic performance is a country’s unemployment rate. Tonga’s reported unemployment rate averaged 2.303% for 2023, down from 2.354% for 2022 according to Trading Economics metrics.
Tonga’s capital city is Nukuʻalofa.
See also Top Oceanian Export Countries, Australia’s Top 10 Exports and New Zealand’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Alibaba, Wholesale Suppliers from Tonga. Accessed on November 30, 2024
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Australia-Oceania: Tonga. Accessed on November 30, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 30, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on November 30, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on November 30, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 30, 2024
Trading Economics, Tonga – Unemployment, total. Accessed on November 30, 2024
Wikimedia, Flag of Tonga. Accessed on November 30, 2024
Wikipedia, Category:Companies of Tonga. Accessed on November 30, 2024
Wikipedia, Tonga. Accessed on November 30, 2024