Ivory Coast, also known as the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, is a West African country that exported commodities worth US$12.9 billion in 2021.

Comparing the predicted dollar amount to the Ivory Coast’s $12.7 billion in exports during 2017, there was a flatlining 1.5% gain.

Exports from the Ivory Coast increased annually from $12.5 billion in 2020 by 3.4%.

The top 5 most valuable exports from Ivory Coast are cocoa beans, rubber, raw gold, cocoa paste, crude oil, and then cocoa butter, fat, and oil. In all, the top 5 exports from the Ivory Coast account for over 74% of the country’s entire export value. An export portfolio with a high concentration of products is indicated by this high percentage.

Ivory Coast’s key trading partners

According to the most recent data available, importers in the following countries purchased 67.2% of the goods exported from the Ivory Coast here: 

• Netherlands (10% of the global total), 
• United States (6.7%), 
• Switzerland (6.5%), 
• Vietnam (6.4%),
• Belgium (5.4%),
• Mali (5.32%), 
• Malaysia (5.25%), 
• France (5.a1%), 
• Germany (4.4%),
• South Africa (4.3%), 
• Burkina Faso (4.1%), 
• China (4%).

In terms of the continent as a whole, the value of exports, 42.6%, was shipped to European nations, while 23.3% was sold to African importers. An additional 23.2% of Ivory Coast’s exports were bound for Asia.

North America received a lower percentage (9.1%), followed by Latin America (1.3%), which includes the Caribbean but excludes Mexico, and Oceania (0.6%), which consists primarily of Australia.

With a population of 27.7 million, Ivory Coast’s $12.9 billion in total exports in 2021 correspond to $465 for each of its citizens in the West African nation. This monetary amount is more than the 2020 average of $450 per person.

Ivory Coast’s top 10 exports

The export product groupings listed below have the biggest dollar value in Ivoirian global shipments in 2021. The percentage share of each export category in terms of total Ivory Coast exports is also shown.

• Cocoa: US$6.6 billion (51.4% of total exports)
• Rubber, rubber articles: $1.8 billion (14.3%)
• Gems, precious metals: $1.3 billion (10.3%)
• Mineral fuels including oil: $916.3 million (7.1%)
• Fruits, nuts: $745.4 million (5.8%)

• Cotton: $268.1 million (2.1%)
• Ores, slag, ash: $189.7 million (1.5%)
• Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $174.7 million (1.4%)
• Wood: $116.5 million (0.9%)
• Miscellaneous food preparations: $96.1 million (0.7%)
• 95.4% of the total value of Ivory Coast’s international shipments was made up of its top 10 exports.

Among the top 10 export categories, rubber as a material and products derived from rubber saw the highest growth, increasing by 77% between 2020 and 2021.

Cocoa came in second for increasing export sales with a 27.9% increase.

Shipments of ores, slag, and ash experienced the third-fastest increase in value, rising by 15.4%.

Fruits and nuts were the biggest declining export category for Ivory Coast, with a -33.6% decrease from the previous year.

The Ivory Coast exports cocoa beans, which are valued at 36.7% of its total exports, followed by natural rubber (14.2%), unwrought gold (10.2%), cocoa paste (8.8%), and crude oil (4%). Also, cocoa butter, fat, and oil (3.7%), refined petroleum oils (2.3%), unguarded cotton (2%), cashews, and coconuts (1.9%).

Products generating Ivory Coast’s best trade surpluses

The shipments of the following Ivoirian products reflect positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. According to Investopedia, net exports are the value of a country’s total exports less the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports are the amount by which foreign expenditure on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags behind spending on foreign goods or services in the home country.

• Cocoa: USD 6.6 billion (Up by 27.8 % since 2020)
• Rubber and rubber products: $1.7 billion (Up by 83.7%)
• Precious metals and gems: $1.3 billion (Down by -10.4%)
• $726.7 million for fruits and nuts (Down by -34.1%)
• $185.3 million for cotton (Down by -34.3%)
• $89.9 million for Wood (Down by -1.7%)
• $29.7 million for ores, slag, and ash (Down by -81%)
• Animal fats, oils, and waxes: $18.8 million (Down by -90.2%)
• $14.5 million in collector items, art, and antiquities (Up by 9227.1%)
• $4.1 million for vegetable plaiting materials (Up by 6.1%)

In the international commerce of cocoa, Ivory Coast enjoys very favorable net exports. These cashflows, in turn, demonstrate Ivory Coast’s substantial competitive advantages in the cocoa product category.