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Foreign Trade in Figures

Cameroon is open to international trade. It is a member of the Commonwealth, the CEMAC (Central African Economic and Monetary Community), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), and has signed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. The ratio of trade to GDP is around 37% (World Bank, 2021).

Its main export commodities are fuel (oil, gas), minerals (coal, aluminium), wood, cocoa, cotton, and rubber. Cameroon mainly imports mineral fuels and oil, food (rice, wheat, fish, etc.), medicines, and manufactured products (vehicles, machinery, electrical and electronic equipment). Cameroon’s main export partners are China, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Spain and India. Its main import suppliers are China, France, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Thailand, the United States and Togo. Cameroon signed a free trade agreement with the European Union in August 2016. For some years now, Eastern Asian countries (especially China, Japan, India, and Thailand) have been reinforcing their trade ties with Cameroon.

Cameroon's trade balance is structurally negative. According to WTO data, in 2021 Cameroon recorded a trade deficit of USD 2 billion. The same source reported that the country imported USD 6.1 billion worth of goods against USD 4.1 billion for exports. Service exports generated 1.55 billion USD while service imports amounted to 2.24 billion USD in 2020 (WTO, latest available data). In 2021 imports of goods and services increased by 13.8% compared to 2020, much faster than exports (3.4%) (World Bank).

 
Foreign Trade Values 20172018201920202021
Imports of Goods (million USD) 5,2475,6565,6465,3646,100
Exports of Goods (million USD) 3,2333,8034,0843,3854,100
Imports of Services (million USD) 2,3802,6412,7722,2410
Exports of Services (million USD) 1,8412,0052,1031,5520

Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Indicators 20172018201920202021
Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) 39.240.643.433.737.1
Trade Balance (million USD) -227-533-737-679-524
Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) -723-1,121-1,355-1,088-1,579
Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) -1.28.511.4-17.113.8
Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) -1.62.111.2-14.43.4
Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 20.821.923.518.520.4
Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 18.418.719.915.216.7

Source: World Bank ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Forecasts 20222023 (e)2024 (e)2025 (e)2026 (e)
Volume of exports of goods and services (Annual % change) 6.012.88.89.88.5
Volume of imports of goods and services (Annual % change) -2.110.27.26.15.4

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook ; Latest available data

Note: (e) Estimated Data

 
International Economic Cooperation
Cameroon is open to a large extent to international trade. It is a member of the Commonwealth as well as that of the Franc Zone. In order to facilitate trade relations, these countries have signed treaties and agreements to simplify trade. In this way Cameroon has signed agreement with the European Union.

It should also be noted that Cameroon also has trade agreements with countries such as Tunisia, Nigeria and China.

 

Main Partner Countries

Main Customers
(% of Exports)
2018
China 24.8%
Italy 13.7%
Netherlands 9.7%
France 7.0%
Spain 5.9%
See More Countries 38.9%
Main Suppliers
(% of Imports)
2018
China 18.5%
France 8.3%
Nigeria 5.6%
Netherlands 4.8%
Thailand 4.2%
See More Countries 58.6%

Source: Comtrade, 2023. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 
 
 

To go further, check out our service Import Export Flows.

 

Main Services

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2023. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

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Actualitzacions: September 2023

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