That dollar amount results from a 27.7% increase from $959.6 million five years earlier in 2019.
Year over year, the value of Nepalese exports fell by -5.7% compared to $1.3 billion starting from 2022.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, the Nepalese rupee weakened by -17.3% against the US dollar since 2019 and diluted by -5.5% from 2022 to 2023. Nepal’s weaker local currency made Nepalese exports paid for starting from stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Nepal’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data from 2022 shows that 94.9% of products exported from Nepal were bought by importers in: India (71.9% of the Nepalese total), United States of America (11.3%), Germany (2.5%), Türkiye (2%), United Kingdom (1.8%), France (1%), Australia (0.83%), Japan (0.8%), Canada (0.78%), Italy (0.76%), Netherlands (0.6%) and Denmark (0.55%).
From a continental perspective, 77.5% of Nepal’s exports by value was delivered to Asia countries while 12.1% was sold to importers in North America. Nepal shipped another 9.2% worth of goods to Europe.
Smaller percentages went to buyers in Oceania (0.9%) led by Australia and New Zealand, Africa (0.2%), then Latin America (0.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.
Given Nepal’s population of 31.1 million people, its total $1.23 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $40 for every resident in the South Asian country. That dollar metric falls below the average $45 per capita one year earlier in 2022.
Nepal’s Top 10 Exports
At the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, the following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Nepalese global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Nepal.
- Coffee, tea, spices: US$109.9 million (9% of total exports)
- Textile floor coverings: $106.3 million (8.7%)
- Iron, steel: $104 million (8.5%)
- Manmade staple fibers: $94.2 million (7.7%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $83.6 million (6.8%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $66.8 million (5.5%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $64.7 million (5.3%)
- Wood: $53.8 million (4.4%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $52.9 million (4.3%)
- Miscellaneous textiles, worn clothing: $52.4 million (4.3%)
Nepal’s top 10 exports accounted for 64.3% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Aircraft and spacecraft was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 20,854% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was the beverages, spirits and vinegar category via its 1,281% advance.
Nepal’s shipments of wood posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 221.1%.
The leading decliner among Nepal’s top 10 export categories was animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes, pulled down by a -78.7% year-over-year drop.
At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level, knotted textile floor coverings including carpets represent Nepal’s most valuable exported product accounting for 7.6% of the country’s total. Close behind in second place was yarn made from synthetic staple fibers (6.8%) trailed by plated or coated flat-rolled iron or non-alloy steel products (6.5%), palm oil (5.8%), nutmeg and cardamoms (5.4%), aircraft and spacecraft (also 5.4%), non-alcoholic drinks excluding water, juice and milk (5.1%), laminated wood (4%), then miscellaneous animal feed preparations (2.2%).
The top 10 exports at the more detailed HTS level represent over half (51.7%) of Nepalese export sales.
Products Generating Nepal’s Largest Trade Surpluses
The following types of Nepalese 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.
- Textile floor coverings: US$102.9 million (Up by 20.5% since 2022)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $39.9 million (Up by 36.1%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: $35.8 million (Reversing a -$51.6 million deficit)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $31.5 million (Reversing a -$358.6 million deficit)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $31.4 million (Reversing a -$21.9 million deficit)
- Miscellaneous textiles, worn clothing: $23.5 million (Up by 1629.6%)
- Vegetable plaiting materials: $22.8 million (Up by 48.8%)
- Paper yarn, woven fabric: $21.5 million (Up by 205.5%)
- Wood: $13.7 million (Reversing a -$32.2 million deficit)
- Lead: $6.8 million (Up by 5.4%)
Nepal has highly positive net exports in the international trade of carpets and other textile floor coverings. In turn, these cashflows indicate Nepal’s strong competitive advantages under the textile floor coverings product categories.
Products Causing Nepal’s Worst Trade Deficits
Overall, Nepal incurred -US$8.9 billion trade deficit for 2023, down by -28.4% compared to -$12.4 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2022.
Below are exports from Nepal that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Nepal’s goods trail Nepalese importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$2.3 billion (Down by -26.2% since 2022)
- Iron, steel: -$829.5 million (Down by -21.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$741.4 million (Down by -13.2%)
- Machinery including computers: -$670 million (Down by -29.2%)
- Vehicles: -$485.8 million (Down by -7.6%)
- Cereals: -$366.5 million (Down by -23.1%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$301 million (Down by -28.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$280.8 million (Down by -46.2%)
- Vegetables: -$192.4 million (Down by -20.6%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$167 million (Down by -22.2%)
Nepal has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the mineral fuels-related category. Notable loss leaders among these energy products are refined petroleum oils and petroleum gases.
Nepal’s Export Companies
Not one Nepalese corporation ranks among the Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists exports-related companies from Nepal. Selected examples are shown below.
- Chaudhary Group (conglomerate)
- Citizens Bank International (commercial bank)
- Deurali-Janta Pharmaceuticals (drugs and medicines)
- Giribandhu Tea Estate (beverages)
- Hulas Motors (vehicles)
- IME Group (conglomerate)
- Krishna Pauroti (bakery)
- Nepal Oil Corporation (oil, gas)
From a macroeconomic perspective, Nepal’s exported goods in 2023 represent 0.8% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product on a Purchasing Power Parity basis ($150.7 billion), down from 0.9% for 2022. Those percentages suggest Nepal is depending less on international trade compared to other economic activities, albeit based on a very short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Nepal’s unemployment rate averaged 10.69% for 2023, down from an average 10.92% jobless rate one year earlier in 2022 according to metrics from Statista.
Nepal’s capital city is Kathmandu.
See also Nepal’s Top 10 Imports, Nepal’s Top Trading Partners, India’s Top Trading Partners, Palm Oil Exports by Country and Top Cardamoms Exports & Imports by Country Plus Average Prices
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on September 12, 2024
Forbes, Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 12, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 12, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 12, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 12, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Nepal. Accessed on September 12, 2024
Wikipedia, Nepal. Accessed on September 12, 2024