Trade overview 2022
The Republic of Sierra Leone shipped $948.3 million worth of products to the rest of the world in 2021. The value of Sierra Leone's exports increased by 57.5% year-on-year compared to the US$608.4 million in 2020.
Sierra Leone's top five exports by value are titanium ore and concentrates, iron ore and concentrates, logs, aluminum ore and concentrates, and rough diamonds.
1. Major trading partners of Sierra Leone
The latest country-specific data show that 90.5% of Sierra Leone’s exports were purchased by importers from the following countries: Mainland China (18.3% of Sierra Leone’s total global exports), South Korea (14%), Netherlands (13.5%), Somalia (10.8%), Ghana (8%), Romania (7.8%), Germany (5.3%), Guinea (4.5%), Senegal (3%), Côte d’Ivoire (1.9%), Belgium (1.8%) and India ( 1.6%).
34.8% of Sierra Leone’s exports went to the rest of Africa, 34.5% to Asian importers, 30.1% to Europe – followed by North America (0.5%), Latin America (excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean at 0.08%), Then there is Australia in Oceania (0.02%).
Given Sierra Leone's population of 8.144 million, its total exports in 2021 will be US$948.3 million, or about US$120 per capita. This indicator is $70 per capita in 2020.
2. Top 10 commodities exported by Sierra Leone
According to the Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) two-digit code classification, Sierra Leone's export value in US dollars by category in 2021, the main export commodity categories and their percentages in Sierra Leone's total exports are as follows:
Ores, slags, lime ash: $558.7 million (58.3% of total exports)
Wood: $159.5 million (16.6%)
Gemstones, precious metals: $51.7 million (5.4%)
Cocoa: $47.7 million (5%)
Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $23 million (2.4%)
Motors, equipment: $15.4 million (1.6%)
Vehicles: $13.3 million (1.4%)
Mechanical equipment, including computers: $11.4 million (1.2 percent)
Fish: $10 million (1%)
Steel: $9.5 million (1%)
Sierra Leone's top 10 exports accounted for 93.9% of its total global exports.
Animal and vegetable fats, oils and waxes are the fastest growing of the top 10 export categories, increasing by 540.6% from 2020 to 2021.
In second place in improving export sales was automobiles, which rose 175.6 percent.
Sierra Leone's ore, slag and lime ash exports grew the third fastest, up 111.5% year-on-year.
Among Sierra Leone's top 10 export categories, fish products were the ones with the largest decline, down 35.9%.
Broken down to 4-digit HTS codes, Sierra Leone's most valuable exports in 2021 are: titanium ore and its concentrates (26.8% of the country's total exports), iron ore and its concentrates (21.1%), logs ( 15.4%), aluminum ore and its concentrate (7%), rough diamonds (5.2%), cocoa beans (4.9%), niobium or zirconium ore and its concentrate (3.1%), palm oil (2.2%), Sawn timber (1.2%), then automotive (1.2%).
3. The product with the largest trade surplus in Sierra Leone
The following lists Sierra Leone's top ten positive net exports or trade surplus product categories by surplus. Net exports are defined as the value of a country's total exports minus the value of its total imports.
Ore, slag, lime ash: $558.7 million (+111.5% since 2020)
Lumber: $155.2 million (up 30%)
Gemstones, precious metals: $49.2 million (down 28.3%)
Cocoa: $42.5 million (down 12.3%)
Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $14.2 million (reversing a $5.7 million deficit)
Fish: $5.2 million (down 66%)
Copper: $1.7 million (down 44.3%)
Coffee, tea, spices: $1.5 million (down 59.8%)
Airplanes, Spaceships: $355,000 (to reverse a $1,000 deficit)
Collectibles, art, antiques: $81,000 (up 39.7 percent)
Sierra Leone's net exports in international trade in ores and concentrates, including titanium, aluminum and iron, are very active. In turn, these cash flows demonstrate that Sierra Leone has a strong competitive advantage in the ore, slag and mine lime product categories.
4. Products Contributing to Sierra Leone's Worst Trade Deficit
Sierra Leone’s trade deficit is estimated at $616.5 million in 2021, a 3 percent increase from $598.6 million in 2020.
Below are the products for which Sierra Leone has resulted in negative net exports or product trade deficit.
Grains: -$134.1 million (down 4%)
Mechanical equipment, including computers: -$106.6 million (up 31.6%)
Vehicles: -$106 million (up 38.4%)
Fossil fuels including petroleum: -$98.3 million (+181.4%)
Plastics, Plastic Products: -$85.4 million (up 53.3%)
Motors, Equipment: -$84.1 million (up 4.6%)
Pharmaceuticals: -$72.3 million (down 9.2%)
Steel: -$60.4 million (up 69.7%)
Steel products: -$60.2 million (up 49%)
Ceramic Products: -$43.5 million (up 72.8%)
The net grain export of Sierra Leone is negative, and the international trade deficit of grains is serious.
From a macroeconomic perspective, Sierra Leone's merchandise exports accounted for 6.5% of its overall GDP ($14.8 billion in PPP dollars) in 2021, compared to 4.1% in 2020. This shows that Sierra Leone's overall economic performance is relatively more dependent on products sold in international markets.
