That estimated dollar amount results from a -67.7% drop over the 5-year period starting from $1.62 billion in 2019.
Year over year, Yemen’s total revenues from exports plunged by -75.4% compared to $2.15 billion for 2022.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2023, the Yemeni rial depreciated by -178.4% against the US dollar since 2019 and diluted by -21.5% from 2022 to 2023. Yemen’s weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
The top 5 most valuable products exported from Yemen are crude oil, iron or steel scrap, moluscs, electrical waste and scrap, copper scrap, and frozen whole fish. Collectively, those 5 leading exports generated about two-thirds (65.4%) of the total value of Yemen’s exported goods for 2023.
Yemen is the poorest country in the Middle East. Geographically, the Arab nation shares borders with Saudi Arabia to its north, Oman to its east and northeast, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to its south and the Red Sea to its west.
Yemen’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 88.6% of products exported from Yemen were bought by importers in: Saudi Arabia (35.6% of Yemen’s global total), Oman (18.8%), Somalia (7.3%), Japan (6%), United Arab Emirates (5.1%), Egypt (3.4%), United States of America (2.6%), Germany (2.4%), Djibouti (2.3%), United Kingdom (1.9%), Thailand (1.6%), then mainland China (1.5%).
Given its population of 34.1 million people, Yemen’s total $528 million in 2023 exports translates to roughly $15 for every resident in the Middle Eastern country. That per-capita average lags the $50 per person one year earlier in 2022.
Yemen’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Yemeni global shipments during 2023. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Yemen.
- Fish: US$151 million (28.6% of total exports)
- Iron, steel: $125.5 million (23.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $59.8 million (11.3%)
- Copper: $46.6 million (8.8%)
- Aluminum: $34 million (6.4%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $24 million (4.5%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $19.1 million (3.6%)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $11.1 million (2.1%)
- Machinery including computers: $10.6 million (2%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $8.6 million (1.6%)
By value, Yemen’s top 10 export categories accounted for 96.1% of the overall value of its global shipments.
Machinery including computers was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, surging 307.1% from 2022 to 2023.
In second place for improving export sales were the metals iron and steel via a 272.6% advance.
Yemen’s shipments of aluminum posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 257.8%.
The leading decliner among Yemen’s top 10 export categories was mineral fuels including oil, recording a -97.7% year-over-year drop.
Please note that the results listed above are at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level.
At the more detailed 4-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, iron or steel scrap represents Yemen’s most valuable exported product at nearly one-quarter (23.7%) of the Middle Eastern country’s total. In second place were molusc (14.3%) trailed by moluscs (3.6%), electrical waste and scrap (11.3%), copper scrap (8.3%), frozen whole fish (also 8.3%), aluminum scrap (6.3%), electronic waste (4.5%), plastics waste (2.6%), aquatic invertebrates excluding crustaceans and molluscs (2.1%), then dried, salted or smoked fish (1.9%).
Products Generating Yemen’s Top Trade Surpluses
The following types of Yemeni 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 is 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.
- Fish: US$151 million (Down by -5.6% since 2022)
- Copper: $41 million (Up by 265.9%)
- Raw hides, skins not furskins, leather: $10.8 million (Up by 2.6%)
- Lead: $4.4 million (Up by 15.9%)
- Zinc: $997 (Reversing a -$3.8 million deficit)
- Collector items, art, antiques: $93 (Up by 20.8%)
- Miscellaneous animal-origin products: $43,000 (Up by -97.1%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $15,000 (Up by -107.4%)
Yemen has highly positive net exports in the international trade of fish. In turn, these cashflows indicate Yemen’s strong competitive advantages under the related product category.
Products Causing Yemen’s Top Trade Deficits
Overall, Yemen incurred a projected -US$8 billion trade deficit for 2023, decreasing by -26.5% from -$10.9 billion during 2022.
Below are exports from Yemen that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Yemen’s goods trail Yemeni importer spending on foreign products.
- Cereals: -US$1.2 billion (Up by 0.7% since 2022)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: -$496.3 million (Up by 61%)
- Vehicles: -$469.6 million (Up by -32.5%)
- Iron, steel: -$450.3 million (Up by -22.1%)
- Machinery including computers: -$371.2 million (Up by -13.8%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$341.8 million (Up by -8.8%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: -$332.6 million (Up by 34.4%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: -$285.8 million (Up by 0.9%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$253.9 million (Up by -48.9%)
- Footwear: -$240.6 million (Up by -7.6%)
Yemen has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for cereals particularly wheat, rice and corn (in that order).
Yemeni Export Companies
The following companies are selected examples of leading companies headquartered in Yemen:
No Yemeni company appears on the Forbes 2023 Global 2000 rankings.
Wikipedia does list some exporters from Yemen. Selected examples are shown below:
- Hayel Saeed Anam Group (multi-product conglomerate)
- TeleYemen (telecommunications)
- Yemen LNG (petroleum)
- Yemen Oil and Gas Corporation (petroleum)
- YemenSoft Inc (enterprise/accounting software)
In macroeconomic terms, Yemen’s total exported goods represent 0.8% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($68.6 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 0.8% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 2.5% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Yemen’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Yemen’s unemployment rate averaged 17.53% for 2023, down from an average 17.61% one year earlier in 2022 per Trading Economics metrics.
Yemen’s capital city is Sana’a.
See also Yemen’s Top 10 Imports, Saudi Arabia’s Top 10 Exports, Oman’s Top 10 Exports and Crude Oil Exports by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Kenya. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Forbes 2023 Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on November 1, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on November 1, 2024
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Wikipedia, Category: Companies of Yemen by industry. Accessed on November 1, 2024
Wikipedia, Yemen. Accessed on November 1, 2024