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Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

Exports (2023)$198B
Imports (2023)$266B
Main Exporter (2023)Egypt $51.1B
Main Importer (2023)Egypt$88.2B
Internal Trade (2023)9.39%of total trade

About

Overview COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) is a Customs Union composed by Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Madagascar, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Eswatini, Rwanda, Somalia, Malawi, Seychelles, Eritrea, Burundi, and Comoros. In 2023, COMESA exported $198B (0.88% of global exports) and imported $266B (1.18% of global imports). Its largest exporter, Egypt exported $51.1B, which corresponds to 25.7% of the total exports. On the other hand, the largest importer, Egypt, imported $88.2B, which is 33.1% of the total imports of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

Trade In 2023, COMESA's most exported products were Crude Petroleum Oils ($36.5B), Unwrought Copper Cathodes & Sections ($14.5B), Unwrought Non-Monetary Gold ($12B), Unrefined Copper & Copper Anodes for Electrolytic Refining ($8.37B), and Bituminous Petroleum Distillates (Excl. Crude) ($7.08B). The same year, the most imported products were Bituminous Petroleum Distillates (Excl. Crude) ($32.1B), Medicaments in Dosage (n.e.s.) ($4.23B), Durum wheat ($4.08B), Radio/TV Transmit-Receive Apparatus ($3.83B), and Palm oil or fractions simply refined ($3.27B).

Partners In 2023, COMESA's exports went primarly to China ($24.4B), United Arab Emirates ($17B), Italy ($16.4B), Germany ($11.3B), and France ($10.5B). The same year, COMESA's imported primarily from China ($49.4B), United Arab Emirates ($17.2B), India ($16.4B), South Africa ($12B), and Turkey ($10.9B).

Historical Data

Organization Composition

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Flow
Y-AXIS SCALE
Value

The following section shows the trade patterns over time for all the countries that comprise the organization, using historical dataset.

Yearly Exports of COMESA

Internal Trade

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Depth
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Internal Trade includes all trade between the countries that comprise this organization.

In 2023, the top internal exports of COMESA were Raw Sugar ($844M), Refined Copper ($696M), Nitrogenous Fertilizers ($587M), Cement ($510M), and Seed Oils ($481M).

The same year, the principal destinations of internal exports were Ethiopia ($3.86B), Libya ($2.64B), Democratic Republic of the Congo ($2.28B), Egypt ($1.53B), and Kenya ($1.25B).

Internal Exports (2021)
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Internal Destinations (2021)
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External Trade

Flow
Depth

External trade includes all world trade excluding the countries that comprise this organization.

In 2023, the top external exports of COMESA were China ($24.4B), United Arab Emirates ($17B), Italy ($16.4B), Germany ($11.3B), and France ($10.5B).

The same year, the principal destinations of external exports were Crude Petroleum ($36.5B), Gold ($15.1B), Refined Copper ($14B), Raw Copper ($8.37B), and Refined Petroleum ($6.75B).

External Exports (2021)
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External Destinations (2021)
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Total Trade

Flow
Color
Depth
Top Export (2023)Crude Petroleum$36.5B
Top Destination (2023)China$24.4B

In 2023, COMESA exported a total of $198B. During the last five reported years the exports of COMESA have changed by $42.1B from $156B in 2018 to $198B in 2023.

The most recent exports are led by Crude Petroleum ($36.5B), Gold ($15.1B), Refined Copper ($14.7B), Raw Copper ($8.37B), and Refined Petroleum ($7.08B). The most common destination for the exports of COMESA are China ($24.4B), United Arab Emirates ($17B), Italy ($16.4B), Germany ($11.3B), and France ($10.5B).

Exports (2021)
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Destinations (2021)
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Largest Export by Country

Indicator

The following visualization shows the principal export per country, the product which has grown the most over the past 5 years or the product in which the country has a higher level of specialization, measured by the RCA Index.

Biggest export by country (2021)

Trade between organizations

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Depth

This visualization show trade between international organizations. The default selection shows the trade with the rest of the world.

Exports (2021)

Destinations (2021)

Economic Complexity

Complexity and Country Indicators

Indicator

This visualization compares the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) with different indicators about country development such as GDP per capita or Inflation. For more information about ECI, check the Methods page.

In 2023, the countries with higher complexity that belong to Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa were Tunisia (0.12), Egypt (-0.14), Kenya (-0.49), Uganda (-0.61), and Zambia (-0.65).

On the other hand, the countries with higher GDP per capita were Seychelles ($17.9k), Mauritius ($11.6k), Libya ($6.17k), Tunisia ($3.98k), and Eswatini ($3.61k).

Finally, the biggest exporters of COMESA were Egypt ($51.1B), Libya ($35.4B), Tunisia ($23.1B), Democratic Republic of the Congo ($20.7B), and Zambia ($15.9B).

GDP per capita v/s ECI for countries that comprise Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (2023)

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