Central African Republic’s Top 10 Exports
by Daniel Workman


Central African Republic flag (courtesy of Wikipedia)
Central African flag
A landlocked country bordered by Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, both Congo republics and Cameroon to its west, the Central African Republic shipped an estimated US$41.04 million worth of goods around the globe in 2020. That dollar amount reflects a -53.3% decline since 2016 and a -67.2% plunge from 2019 to 2020.

The 5 biggest exports by value from Central African Republic are gold, trucks, diamonds, rough wood and sawn wood. Combined, those leading exports represent four-fifths (80.4%) of Central African Republic’s total shipments during 2020.
Central African Republic’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 90.1% of products exported from Central African Republic were bought by importers in: United Arab Emirates (24.3% of the global total), Sweden (15.2%), France (10.2%), Switzerland (8%), Uganda (7%), China (6.9%), Cameroon (4%), Benin (3.6%), Chad (2.9%), Vietnam (2.7%), Burkina Faso (also 2.7%) and Congo (2.6%).

From a continental perspective, 39% of Central African Republic exports by value were delivered to European countries while 35.6% were sold to Asian importers. Central African Republic shipped another 25.3% worth of goods to fellow African nations.

Smaller percentages went to North America’s United States (0.1%) and Latin America (0.01%) including the Caribbean.

Given Central African Republic’s population of 4.83 million people, its total $41.04 million in 2020 exports translates to roughly $10 for every resident in the African country.

Central African Republic’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups categorizes the highest dollar value in Central African global shipments during 2020. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Central African Republic.


Gems, precious metals: US$17.1 million (41.6% of total exports)
Vehicles: $10.2 million (24.8%)
Wood: $7.5 million (18.2%)
Machinery including computers: $3.8 million (9.3%)
Railways, streetcars: $660,000 (1.6%)
Electrical machinery, equipment: $293,000 (0.7%)
Furniture, bedding, lighting , signs, prefab buildings: $251,000 (0.6%)
Cotton: $251,000 (0.6%)
Milling products, malt, starches: $219,000 (0.5%)
Glass: $183,000 (0.4%)
Central African Republic’s top 10 exports accounted for 98.5% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Furniture, bedding, lighting, signs and prefabricated buildings represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 12,450% from 2019 to 2020.

In macroeconomic terms, Central African Republic’s total exported goods represent 0.9% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2020 ($4.8 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 0.9% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2020 compares to 1.6% for 2020. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Central African Republic’s total economic performance, albeit based on a relatively short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Central African Republic’s average unemployment rate was 4.3% for 2020, down from 4% in 2019 according to Trading Economics.