Friday, June 4, 2010

Africa's Top 20 Global Merchandise Trade Economies

Source: Customised from EC Trade 2008 data. Click to enlarge

SA is the top African importer and exporter and globally has a 0.6% share of world trade. However SA has a negative trade balance with imports valued at about 70billion Euros and exports at 55.8 billion Euros . 

Nigeria comes in second on total trade (both imports and exports) and the country has a positive trade balance with a higher share of global exports (52.2 billion Euros) than imports (37.1 billion Euros). 

In Sub Saharan Africa, the big players on total trade (over 10 billion Euros) are SA ranked globally at no. 36, Nigeria (44), Angola (55), Sudan (82), Ivory Coast (89), Kenya (90) and Ghana (95). 

Naturally oil exporters are at the top. Angola and Sudan are 2 LDCs in the top 10 on total trade. The North African countries have a higher combined total trade than most Sub Saharan African countries.

Top global trade economies:
EU combined trade is highest in all three categories. However on a per country basis:
  • Importers (and total trade and in the same order): USA, Fr Germany, China, Japan, France.
  • Exporters: China, Fr Germany, USA, Japan, Netherlands.
Interestingly, China is the world's largest exporter and leading source of imports for Africa. See Africa- China engagement here.

Meanwhile, the US is the largest importer globally and the single largest importer of African goods at a country level.  See US-Africa trade profile here.

See previous post on trade between Africa and trading partners here.


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