Located on the continent’s northeast extremity known as the Horn of Africa, the Federal Republic of Somalia shipped US$210.7 million worth of exported products around the globe in 2023.

That projected dollar amount reflects a -63.9% drop from $583.2 million 5 years earlier in 2019.

Year over year, the overall value of Somalian exported goods shrank by -72% compared to $751.9 million starting from 2022.

Most Valuable Somalian Trade Partners

The latest available country-specific data shows that 91.1% worth of products exported from Somalia was bought by importers in: Djibouti (40% of the Somalian total), India (14.6%), Macao (9.4%), France (8.2%), Bahrain (4.1%), Japan (3.8%), mainland China (3.2%), Germany (2.6%), United States of America (1.54%), Ivory Coast (1.48%), Egypt (1.12%) and Hong Kong (1.11%).

From a continental perspective, 44.9% of Somalia’s exports by value was delivered to African countries while 40.2% was sold to importers in fellow Asian nations. Somalia shipped another 12.7% worth of goods to Europe.

Tinier percentages went to customers in North America (1.7%), Latin America (0.4%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Australia and New Zealand in Oceania (0.02%).

Given Somalia’s population of 16.1 million people, its estimated $210.7 million in 2023 exports translates to roughly $15 for every resident in the Horn of Africa country. That dollar metric is higher than the average $8 per capita one year earlier in 2022.

Somalia’s Top 10 Exports

The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Somali global shipments during 2023 at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Somalia.

1. Books, newspapers, pictures: US$81.8 million (38.8% of total exports)
2. Fish: $39.1 million (18.5%)
3. Paper, paper items: $14 million (6.7%)
4. Iron, steel: $12.2 million (5.8%)
5. Gums, resins, other vegetable saps: $11.5 million (5.4%)
6. Oil seeds: $10.8 million (5.1%)
7. Live animals: $9.2 million (4.4%)
8. Electrical machinery, equipment: $4.6 million (2.2%)
9. Copper: $4.4 million (2.1%)
10. Gems, precious metals: $4.1 million (1.9%)

Somalia’s top 10 export product categories accounted for 90.9% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Books, newspapers and pictures was the fastest grower among Somalia’s top 10 export categories, up by 244.1% from 2022 to 2023.

In second place for improving export sales was copper via a 74.8% advance.

Somalia’s shipments of the metals iron and steel posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 49.6%.

The leading decliner among Somalia’s top 10 export categories was gems and precious metals, thanks to a -98.4% year-over-year drop pulled down by lower revenues from exported coins including legal tender.

At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, unused stamps represent Somalia’s most valuable exported product at 38.8% of the country’s total. In second place were dried, salted or smoked fish (9.8%), paper containers and cellulose wadding (6.7%), iron or steel scrap (5.7%), natural gums, resins and balsams (5.4%), oil seeds (5.1%), moluscs (6.5%), frozen whole fish (3.5%), live sheep and goats (3.3%), then copper waste and scrap (2.1%).

Products Creating Somalia’s Best Trade Surpluses

The following types of Somali 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.

1. Books, newspapers, pictures: US$79.8 million (Up by 305.4% since 2022)
2. Fish: $38 million (Down by -1.6%)
3. Gums, resins, other vegetable saps: $11.3 million (Down by -65.9%)
4. Live animals: $9 million (Down by -97.3%)
5. Copper: $3.9 million (Up by 116.1%)
6. Oil seeds: $3.7 million (Down by -2.8%)
7. Gems, precious metals: $3.6 million (Down by -97.8%)
8. Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $1.7 million (Down by -40.2%)
9. Ores, slag, ash: $371,000 (Up by 71.8%)
10. Nickel: $333,000 (Reversing a -$57,000 deficit)

Somalia has positive net exports in the international trade of books, newspapers and pictures. In turn, these cashflows indicate Somalia’s strong competitive advantages under the related product category.

Products Causing Somalia’s Largest Trade Deficits

Overall Somalia incurred an estimated -US$3.22 billion trade deficit for 2023, shrinking by -36.5% from -$5.1 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2022.

Below are exports from Somalia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Somalia’s goods trail Somali importer spending on foreign products.

1. Sugar, sugar confectionery: -US$409.9 million (Down by -8.1% since 2022)
2. Cereals: -$224.6 million (Down by -26%)
3. Cereal/milk preparations: -$206.1 million (Up by 18.3%)
4. Electrical machinery, equipment: -$178.5 million (Down by -56.6%)
5. Vehicles: -$154.7 million (Down by -22.5%)
6. Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: -$151.4 million (Down by -50%)
7. Manmade staple fibers: -$149.9 million (Up by 8.5%)
8. Vegetables: -$145.3 million (Down by -48.4%)
9. Milling products, malt, starches: -$128.3 million (Down by -28.9%)
10. Machinery including computers: -$120.6 million (Down by -50.3%)

Somalia has highly negative net exports and therefore international trade deficits under food-related categories sugar including sugar confectionery, cereals and vegetables product categories.

Somali Export Companies

Not one Somali corporation ranks among the Forbes Global 2000.

Wikipedia also lists exports-related companies from Somalia. Selected examples are shown below.

• Bosaso Tannery (product tanning)
• Hafun Fishing Company (fish)
• International Bank of Somalia (commercial bank)
• KAAH Electric (electricity)
• Somafone (telecommunications)
• Somalia Petroleum Corporation (oil, gas)

 
In macroeconomic terms, Somalia’s total exported goods represent an estimated 0.7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($32 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 0.7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 0.6% for 2022. Those metrics suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Somalia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Somalia’s unemployment rate averaged 19.027% in 2023, down from an average 19.128% one year earlier in 2022 according to Trading Economics metrics.

Somalia’s capital city is Mogadishu.

See also South Sudan’s Top 10 Exports, Saudi Arabia’s Top 10 Imports, Angola’s Top 10 Exports and Top African Export Countries

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Somalia. Accessed on October 13, 2024

FlagPictures.org, Flag of Somalia. Accessed on October 13, 2024

Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 13, 2024

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 13, 2024

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 13, 2024

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 13, 2024

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on October 13, 2024

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Somalia. Accessed on October 13, 2024

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on October 13, 2024

Wikipedia, Somalia. Accessed on October 13, 2024