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Trade between China and Ethiopia

In 2024, China exported $3.1 billion to Ethiopia and imported $409 million. China ran a surplus of $2.7 billion with Ethiopia, compared with a surplus of $3.7 billion in 2019. Ethiopia was China’s 105th largest trading partner (0.1% of its trade), and China was Ethiopia’s largest (34%).

Summary

China → Ethiopia
$3.1billion
Ethiopia → China
$409million
China’s balance
$2.7billion

Balance

China’s trade balance with Ethiopia

Trade between China and Ethiopia grew 98.2-fold since 1995

USD billions (current). China’s exports and imports; bars: its balance (green surplus, red deficit).

  • Exports 3.1
  • Imports 0.4
  • Balance +2.7

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearExportsImportsTrade balance
1995$35 million$702 thousand$35 million
1996$41 million$205 thousand$40 million
1997$73 million$671 thousand$72 million
1998$95 million$706 thousand$94 million
1999$95 million$1 million$94 million
2000$107 million$3 million$103 million
2001$164 million$6 million$159 million
2002$184 million$6 million$178 million
2003$316 million$7 million$309 million
2004$378 million$17 million$361 million
2005$622 million$76 million$546 million
2006$708 million$132 million$576 million
2007$1.2 billion$93 million$1.1 billion
2008$1.7 billion$82 million$1.7 billion
2009$2 billion$230 million$1.7 billion
2010$2.1 billion$252 million$1.8 billion
2011$1.7 billion$286 million$1.4 billion
2012$2.6 billion$303 million$2.3 billion
2013$3.3 billion$327 million$2.9 billion
2014$5.1 billion$492 million$4.7 billion
2015$6 billion$381 million$5.6 billion
2016$5.3 billion$429 million$4.9 billion
2017$5.1 billion$364 million$4.7 billion
2018$4.1 billion$336 million$3.8 billion
2019$4 billion$300 million$3.7 billion
2020$4.1 billion$277 million$3.8 billion
2021$4.1 billion$292 million$3.8 billion
2022$4.8 billion$348 million$4.4 billion
2023$5.5 billion$388 million$5.1 billion
2024$3.1 billion$409 million$2.7 billion

What they sell each other

What China sells to Ethiopia

The top 10 headings in 2024, with their share of the total.

  1. Computers$204 million · 6.5%
    2 thousand tonnes · China’s destinations
  2. Cables and wire$167 million · 5.3%
    25 thousand tonnes · China’s destinations
  3. Cameras and broadcast equipment$124 million · 4%
    1 thousand tonnes
  4. Refined petroleum$108 million · 3.4%
    124 thousand tonnes · China’s destinations
  5. Transformers and power supplies$91 million · 2.9%
    15 thousand tonnes
  6. Control panels$65 million · 2.1%
    4 thousand tonnes
  7. Steel structures$58 million · 1.9%
    42 thousand tonnes
  8. Pesticides and herbicides$53 million · 1.7%
    18 thousand tonnes
  9. Synthetic filament yarn$50 million · 1.6%
    35 thousand tonnes
  10. New tires$46 million · 1.5%
    21 thousand tonnes · China’s destinations

What Ethiopia sells to China

The top 10 headings in 2024, with their share of the total.

  1. Other oilseeds$171 million · 41.9%
    99 thousand tonnes
  2. Coffee$102 million · 25%
    16 thousand tonnes · Ethiopia’s destinations
  3. Dried legumes (beans, lentils, peas)$51 million · 12.4%
    48 thousand tonnes
  4. Soybeans$18 million · 4.4%
    29 thousand tonnes · China’s sources
  5. Cotton yarn$16 million · 3.9%
    3 thousand tonnes
  6. Niobium, tantalum, vanadium and zirconium ore$12 million · 2.9%
    134 tonnes
  7. Raw flax$11 million · 2.7%
    2 thousand tonnes
  8. Tanned sheepskin$6 million · 1.5%
    567 tonnes
  9. Quartz and quartzite$4 million · 0.88%
    14 thousand tonnes
  10. Gelatin$3 million · 0.72%
    2 thousand tonnes

How it travels

Estimated sea route from Shanghai to Djibouti (Djibouti).

The estimated sea route between Shanghai and Djibouti (Djibouti) is 6,058 nautical miles (11,219 km) long: ≈ 14–18 days at sea (at 18 and 14 knots).

Passages it crosses: Strait of Malacca and Singapore.

Ethiopia is landlocked: it ships through Djibouti (Djibouti).

Sailing estimate without port calls, waiting or transshipment; not a schedule. One main reference port per country: in large countries it does not represent all of its ports.

Split by transport mode

  1. Sea$3.1 billion · 86.1%
  2. Air$494 million · 13.9%

Mode estimated from value per kilo and geography; both directions together.

How much each matters to the other

Ethiopia was China’s 105th largest trading partner (0.1% of its trade), and China was Ethiopia’s largest (34%).

Ethiopia in China’s trade
0.1%
Ethiopia’s rank among China’s partners
105th
China in Ethiopia’s trade
34%
China’s rank among Ethiopia’s partners
1st

Compare with

Other partners of China

Sources and methodology

Sources and licenses

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. The sea route comes from our own network derived from World Bank shipping density (not from nautical charts), between one main reference port per country (World Port Index); days are the distance at 14 and 18 knots, without port calls or waiting. Data up to 2024.