Summary
- Exports
- $512million
- Imports
- $3.2billion
- Trade balance
- -$2.7billion
Products
What it exports
Live sheep and goats (57.5%) and other live animals (15.8%) together make up 73.2% of its exports.
What it imports
Cane and beet sugar (13.5%) and rice (9.1%) together make up 22.6% of its imports.
By Harmonized System chapter (96)
| Chapter | Exports | Imports |
|---|---|---|
| 01 · Live animals | $394 million | $377 thousand |
| 12 · Oilseeds and grains | $27 million | $6 million |
| 84 · Mechanical machinery | $17 million | $148 million |
| 72 · Iron and steel | $13 million | $78 million |
| 13 · Gums and plant extracts | $10 million | $192 thousand |
| 08 · Fruit and nuts | $8 million | $11 million |
| 03 · Fish and seafood | $7 million | $2 million |
| 48 · Paper and paperboard | $5 million | $38 million |
| 74 · Copper | $5 million | $644 thousand |
| 87 · Vehicles | $4 million | $107 million |
| 02 · Meat and offal | $4 million | $25 million |
| 27 · Oil, gas and coal | $3 million | $15 million |
| 38 · Miscellaneous chemicals | $3 million | $12 million |
| 15 · Fats and oils | $2 million | $114 million |
| 41 · Hides and leather | $2 million | $10 thousand |
| 76 · Aluminum | $2 million | $20 million |
| 85 · Electrical and electronic equipment | $2 million | $166 million |
| 33 · Perfumes and cosmetics | $869 thousand | $15 million |
| 16 · Prepared meat and fish | $824 thousand | $13 million |
| 71 · Gems and precious metals | $373 thousand | $539 thousand |
| 97 · Art and antiques | $311 thousand | $9 thousand |
| 94 · Furniture and lighting | $309 thousand | $56 million |
| 07 · Vegetables | $214 thousand | $12 million |
| 62 · Woven clothing | $212 thousand | $89 million |
| 25 · Salt, stone and cement | $187 thousand | $10 million |
| 11 · Milling products and malt | $177 thousand | $123 million |
| 70 · Glass | $131 thousand | $11 million |
| 90 · Precision and medical instruments | $131 thousand | $38 million |
| 10 · Cereals | $127 thousand | $302 million |
| 39 · Plastics | $87 thousand | $107 million |
| 30 · Pharmaceuticals | $67 thousand | $127 million |
| 40 · Rubber | $44 thousand | $48 million |
| 05 · Other animal products | $43 thousand | $3 thousand |
| 23 · Animal feed and food waste | $36 thousand | $664 thousand |
| 61 · Knitted clothing | $34 thousand | $57 million |
| 44 · Wood | $32 thousand | $72 million |
| 63 · Home textiles and used clothing | $32 thousand | $51 million |
| 78 · Lead | $30 thousand | $9 thousand |
| 75 · Nickel | $29 thousand | $341 |
| 64 · Footwear | $28 thousand | $70 million |
| 26 · Ores and slag | $27 thousand | $0 |
| 49 · Books and printed matter | $22 thousand | $13 million |
| 83 · Miscellaneous metal goods | $20 thousand | $13 million |
| 73 · Iron and steel products | $20 thousand | $75 million |
| 88 · Aircraft and spacecraft | $18 thousand | $3 million |
| 54 · Synthetic filaments | $16 thousand | $43 million |
| 09 · Coffee, tea and spices | $13 thousand | $12 million |
| 29 · Organic chemicals | $12 thousand | $6 million |
| 06 · Live plants and flowers | $12 thousand | $37 thousand |
| 96 · Other manufactured goods | $9 thousand | $17 million |
| 22 · Beverages and spirits | $8 thousand | $4 million |
| 46 · Wicker and basketware | $6 thousand | $2 million |
| 68 · Stone, plaster and cement articles | $5 thousand | $4 million |
| 89 · Ships and boats | $5 thousand | $688 thousand |
| 86 · Railway equipment | $5 thousand | $2 million |
| 82 · Tools and cutlery | $5 thousand | $11 million |
| 52 · Cotton | $4 thousand | $415 thousand |
| 95 · Toys and sports gear | $3 thousand | $13 million |
| 21 · Food preparations | $2 thousand | $46 million |
| 53 · Other plant fibers | $399 | $119 thousand |
| 24 · Tobacco | $368 | $63 million |
| 42 · Leather goods and bags | $361 | $10 million |
| 69 · Ceramics | $320 | $27 million |
| 20 · Preserved fruit and vegetables | $249 | $16 million |
| 58 · Special fabrics and lace | $248 | $2 million |
| 55 · Synthetic staple fibers | $197 | $141 million |
| 91 · Watches and clocks | $131 | $871 thousand |
| 04 · Dairy, eggs and honey | $104 | $46 million |
| 17 · Sugar and sweets | $103 | $450 million |
| 59 · Coated and technical textiles | $71 | $2 million |
| 34 · Soap and cleaning products | $60 | $39 million |
| 60 · Knitted fabric | $53 | $4 million |
| 65 · Hats | $53 | $925 thousand |
| 56 · Felt, nonwovens and rope | $25 | $3 million |
| 19 · Baked goods and cereal products | $7 | $151 million |
| 57 · Carpets and rugs | $0 | $10 million |
| 32 · Dyes, paints and tanning agents | $0 | $7 million |
| 18 · Cocoa and chocolate | $0 | $4 million |
| 28 · Inorganic chemicals | $0 | $2 million |
| 93 · Weapons and ammunition | $0 | $2 million |
| 35 · Glues, starches and enzymes | $0 | $2 million |
| 14 · Other plant products | $0 | $915 thousand |
| 66 · Umbrellas and canes | $0 | $871 thousand |
| 67 · Feathers and artificial flowers | $0 | $829 thousand |
| 37 · Photographic goods | $0 | $238 thousand |
| 79 · Zinc | $0 | $220 thousand |
| 31 · Fertilizers | $0 | $185 thousand |
| 36 · Explosives and matches | $0 | $99 thousand |
| 47 · Wood pulp | $0 | $64 thousand |
| 92 · Musical instruments | $0 | $62 thousand |
| 80 · Tin | $0 | $30 thousand |
| 43 · Fur and fur goods | $0 | $20 thousand |
| 81 · Other base metals | $0 | $9 thousand |
| 45 · Cork | $0 | $395 |
| 51 · Wool | $0 | $62 |
| 50 · Silk | $0 | $50 |
Trading partners
Its main destination is Saudi Arabia (68.8% of exports) and its main source is China (30.3% of imports).
Who it sells to
Overview 1995–2024
In 2024, Somalia accounted for 0% of world exports, compared with 0% in 1995.
Exports and imports
Exports quadrupled since 1995
USD billions (current). Bars: trade balance (green surplus, red deficit).
- Exports 0.5
- Imports 3.2
- Balance -2.7
Source: CEPII BACI
Show the numbers
| Year | Exports | Imports | Trade balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | $131 million | $82 million | $49 million |
| 1996 | $141 million | $101 million | $40 million |
| 1997 | $40 million | $113 million | -$73 million |
| 1998 | $59 million | $135 million | -$76 million |
| 1999 | $53 million | $147 million | -$94 million |
| 2000 | $85 million | $192 million | -$107 million |
| 2001 | $44 million | $160 million | -$115 million |
| 2002 | $78 million | $188 million | -$110 million |
| 2003 | $108 million | $204 million | -$96 million |
| 2004 | $115 million | $265 million | -$150 million |
| 2005 | $198 million | $503 million | -$305 million |
| 2006 | $154 million | $405 million | -$251 million |
| 2007 | $233 million | $711 million | -$479 million |
| 2008 | $189 million | $868 million | -$680 million |
| 2009 | $172 million | $676 million | -$504 million |
| 2010 | $294 million | $690 million | -$396 million |
| 2011 | $392 million | $764 million | -$372 million |
| 2012 | $488 million | $1.7 billion | -$1.2 billion |
| 2013 | $624 million | $2 billion | -$1.4 billion |
| 2014 | $712 million | $1.8 billion | -$1 billion |
| 2015 | $683 million | $2.2 billion | -$1.5 billion |
| 2016 | $633 million | $2.6 billion | -$2 billion |
| 2017 | $427 million | $3 billion | -$2.6 billion |
| 2018 | $490 million | $3.5 billion | -$3 billion |
| 2019 | $596 million | $4.1 billion | -$3.5 billion |
| 2020 | $471 million | $4.4 billion | -$3.9 billion |
| 2021 | $515 million | $5.1 billion | -$4.6 billion |
| 2022 | $732 million | $5.8 billion | -$5.1 billion |
| 2023 | $1 billion | $5.2 billion | -$4.2 billion |
| 2024 | $512 million | $3.2 billion | -$2.7 billion |
World rank
Somalia fell from 159th to 166th among the world's exporters
Rank among 222 countries by export value (1st at the top).
- 159th in 1995
- 166th in 2024
Source: CEPII BACI
Show the numbers
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 159th |
| 1996 | 162nd |
| 1997 | 186th |
| 1998 | 181st |
| 1999 | 183rd |
| 2000 | 181st |
| 2001 | 192nd |
| 2002 | 180th |
| 2003 | 178th |
| 2004 | 182nd |
| 2005 | 178th |
| 2006 | 185th |
| 2007 | 178th |
| 2008 | 185th |
| 2009 | 182nd |
| 2010 | 179th |
| 2011 | 177th |
| 2012 | 176th |
| 2013 | 171st |
| 2014 | 167th |
| 2015 | 165th |
| 2016 | 169th |
| 2017 | 173rd |
| 2018 | 170th |
| 2019 | 166th |
| 2020 | 169th |
| 2021 | 169th |
| 2022 | 168th |
| 2023 | 163rd |
| 2024 | 166th |
What it sells
Its top export group is still live animals: 77% in 2024
% of exports by Harmonized System chapter.
- Other 6%
- Paper and paperboard 1%
- Fish and seafood 1%
- Fruit and nuts 2%
- Gums and plant extracts 2%
- Iron and steel 2%
- Mechanical machinery 3%
- Oilseeds and grains 5%
- Live animals 77%
Source: CEPII BACI
Show the numbers
| Chapter | 1995 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Live animals | 74.8% | 77% |
| Oilseeds and grains | 0.24% | 5.2% |
| Mechanical machinery | 0.09% | 3.2% |
| Iron and steel | 0.66% | 2.4% |
| Gums and plant extracts | 2.7% | 2% |
| Fruit and nuts | 9.8% | 1.5% |
| Fish and seafood | 8% | 1.3% |
| Paper and paperboard | 0% | 1.1% |
| Other | 3.7% | 6.2% |
Who it trades with
Saudi Arabia went from 51% to 10% of Somalia's trade
% of total trade (exports + imports) with each partner.
- China 26%
- India 23%
- Saudi Arabia 10%
- Turkey 10%
- Brazil 4%
Source: CEPII BACI
Show the numbers
| Partner | 1995 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| China | 0.76% | 26.2% |
| India | 3.1% | 22.6% |
| Saudi Arabia | 51.3% | 10.3% |
| Turkey | 0.8% | 10.2% |
| Brazil | 5.4% | 4.2% |
Production hubs
Largest industrial emission sources (Climate TRACE, 2025)
No hubs above the globe threshold.
View on the globeSources and methodology
Sources and licenses
- CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
- Climate TRACE · CC BY 4.0 (emissions by asset; the 3 largest per country are shown)
- Kummu et al., gridded GDP · CC BY 4.0 (hubs aggregated by this site)
- Natural Earth · Public domain
Methodology
Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), in current US dollars, with exports and imports reconciled between countries. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Ranks are computed among the countries with data each year. Services are not included. Data up to 2024.