Xifres de comerç exterior de Síria

Foreign Trade in Figures

Syria was open to international trade before the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. It had signed a free trade agreement with Turkey as well as an association agreement with the European Union and joined the GAFTA (large Arab free trade area). Foreign trade represent 41% of the country's GDP (World Bank, 2019). In 2010, Syria's main exports were petroleum resources, its by-products and food products. The country mainly imported petroleum products, foodstuffs (sugar, corn, rice), vehicles and metal products.
 
Trade was paralyzed by the serious political, social and economic crisis that affected the country and turned into a civil war, and by the economic sanctions imposed by its trading partners. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the implementation by the United States of the Caesar Law to isolate the Syrian economy have exacerbated Syria's difficulties. The volume of trade has declined considerably, as Syria has been cut off from its main trading partners and its official exports to its neighbouring countries, except for those to Iran and Russia, have virtually ceased. In August 2021, the government suspended the importation of 20 items for a period of six months, in an effort to save money to import wheat (Enab Baladi). In 2010 (WTO, latest available data), Syria's main customers were the EU, Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, while the main Syrian suppliers were the EU, Turkey, China, Ukraine, Russia and South Korea.

Syria's trade balance is structurally negative, and the deficit has widened since the start of the war, as exports have fallen faster than imports. According to WTO data, in 2020 merchandise imports amounted to USD 5.4 billion, while exports only reached USD 868 million, resulting in a trade deficit of USD 3.6 billion. A year before the war, imports reached 19.7 billion USD and exports 12.2 billion USD.