About

Overview In 2021, Burkina Faso was the number 115 economy in the world in terms of GDP (current US$), the number 102 in total exports, the number 146 in total imports, the number 186 economy in terms of GDP per capita (current US$) and the number 127 most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) .

Exports The top exports of Burkina Faso are Gold ($7.71B), Raw Cotton ($471M), Zinc Ore ($314M), Other Oily Seeds ($112M), and Coconuts, Brazil Nuts, and Cashews ($101M), exporting mostly to Switzerland ($6.94B), India ($971M), Singapore ($195M), Cote d'Ivoire ($182M), and China ($135M).

Imports The top imports of Burkina Faso are Refined Petroleum ($578M), Packaged Medicaments ($166M), Electricity ($147M), Cement ($127M), and Petroleum Gas ($101M), importing mostly from China ($581M), Cote d'Ivoire ($383M), France ($354M), Ghana ($264M), and India ($264M).

Location Burkina Faso borders Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, and Togo by land.

Latest Trends

Latest Trade

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Y-AXIS SCALE

The following section uses the most recent trade data from partners of Burkina Faso.

Disclaimer: data is presented based on availability and only countries that use the harmonized system are being shown.

*All data is converted to USD using January 2020 exchange rates when data is reported in local currency.

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Latest Data

Flow
Color
Depth

The data obtained is mirror data. The trade of countries that do not report current data can be reconstructed based on data reported by partner countries with current data available.

*All data is converted to USD using January 2020 exchange rates when data is reported in local currency.

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Historical Data

Yearly Trade

Flow
Color
Depth
Top Export (2021)Gold$7.71B
Top Destination (2021)Switzerland$6.94B

In 2021, Burkina Faso exported a total of $9.04B, making it the number 102 exporter in the world. During the last five reported years the exports of Burkina Faso have changed by $4.79B from $4.25B in 2016 to $9.04B in 2021.

The most recent exports are led by Gold ($7.71B), Raw Cotton ($471M), Zinc Ore ($314M), Other Oily Seeds ($112M), and Coconuts, Brazil Nuts, and Cashews ($101M). The most common destination for the exports of Burkina Faso are Switzerland ($6.94B), India ($971M), Singapore ($195M), Cote d'Ivoire ($182M), and China ($135M).

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Exports (2021)
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Destinations (2021)
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Market Growth

Flow
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Fastest Growing Export Markets (2020 - 2021)
Switzerland$481M (+ 7.45%)
India$337M (+ 53.2%)
Singapore$74.4M (+ 61.8%)
Fastest Growing Import Markets (2020 - 2021)
China$137M (+ 31%)
Malaysia$55.7M (+ 489%)
United States$47.9M (+ 22.6%)

Total Export Growth by Market (2020 - 2021)

Service Trade

Service Trade

Burkina Faso Exports Services (2018)$555M
Burkina Faso Imports Services (2018)$1.42B

In 2018, Burkina Faso exported $555M worth of services. The top services exported by Burkina Faso in 2018 were Construction services ($114M), Financial services ($90.5M), Transportation ($79.9M), Personal travel ($73.3M), and Computer and information services ($58.7M).

The top services imported by Burkina Faso in 2018 were Transportation ($704M), Other business services ($143M), Insurance services ($140M), Financial services ($111M), and Computer and information services ($100M).

Service Exports (2018)

Service Imports (2018)

Economic Complexity

Overview

Economic Complexity (Trade)-1.79Rank 127 of 131
Economic Complexity (Research)-0.53Rank 94 of 140

Most Specialized Products by RCA Index

Burkina Faso has a high level of specialization in Zinc Ore (59.2), Raw Cotton (58.8), Other Oily Seeds (44.2), Gold (41.3), and Coconuts, Brazil Nuts, and Cashews (23.8). Specialization is measured using RCA, an index that takes the ratio between Burkina Faso observed and expected exports in each product.

Export Opportunities by Relatedness

The top export opportunities for Burkina Faso according to the relatedness index, were Tin Ores (0.05), Insect Resins (0.043), Dried Legumes (0.042), Cocoa Beans (0.042), and Niobium, Tantalum, Vanadium and Zirconium Ore (0.04). Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product. The barchart show only products that Burkina Faso is not specialized in.

Product Space

The product space is a network connecting products that are likely to be co-exported. The product space can be used to predict future exports, since countries are more likely to start exporting products that are related to current exports. Relatedness measures the distance between a product, and all of the products a country currently specializes in.

Relatedness Space

This network shows the products most related to the production structure of Burkina Faso. These are products that tend to be co-exported with the products that Burkina Faso exports. Higher relatedness values ​​indicate greater knowledge, which predicts a greater probability of exporting that product in the future.

Diversification Frontier

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Depth

The Complexity-Relatedness diagram compares the risk vs strategic value of a country's potential export oppotunities. Relatedness is predictive of the probability that a country increases its exports in a product. Complexity, is associated with higher levels of income, economic growth, less income inequality, and lower greenhouse emissions.

Economic Complexity Ranking

Scale

During the last 20 years Burkina Faso's⁩ ⁨economy has become relatively less complex, moving from the ⁩⁨nullth to the 127th⁩ position in the ECI rank.

These economic complexity rankings use 6 digit exports classified according to the HS96 classification. We consider only countries with population of at least 1 million and exports of at least $1 billion, and products with world trade over $500 million. To explore different rankings and vary these parameters visit the custom rankings section.

Explore Rankings

ECI Ranking by Country

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