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Economic Community of West African States

Exports (2023)$167B
Imports (2023)$183B
Main Exporter (2023)Nigeria $61B
Main Importer (2023)Nigeria$68.4B
Internal Trade (2023)8.61%of total trade

About

Overview ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) is a Regional Group composed by Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, Togo, Senegal, Gambia, Liberia, Benin, Niger, Sierra Leone, Cape Verde, and Guinea-Bissau. In 2023, ECOWAS exported $167B (0.74% of global exports) and imported $183B (0.81% of global imports). Its largest exporter, Nigeria exported $61B, which corresponds to 36.6% of the total exports. On the other hand, the largest importer, Nigeria, imported $68.4B, which is 37.3% of the total imports of Economic Community of West African States.

Trade In 2023, ECOWAS's most exported products were Crude Petroleum Oils ($49.7B), Unwrought Non-Monetary Gold ($36.5B), Semi-Manufactured Non-Monetary Gold ($13.8B), Aluminium ores and concentrates ($7.78B), and Liquefied Natural Gas ($7.16B). The same year, the most imported products were Bituminous Petroleum Distillates (Excl. Crude) ($38.1B), Tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles ($9.25B), Cargo Vessels (Excl. Tankers & Refrigerated) ($9.11B), Crude Petroleum Oils ($4.05B), and Rice, semi-milled or wholly milled ($3.13B).

Partners In 2023, ECOWAS's exports went primarly to United Arab Emirates ($25.4B), Switzerland ($19.8B), China ($13.8B), India ($10.2B), and United States ($9.59B). The same year, ECOWAS's imported primarily from China ($47.3B), India ($13.4B), Singapore ($9.65B), Belgium ($9.25B), and Netherlands ($7.09B).

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 ECOWAS

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 ECOWAS were Refined Petroleum ($3.61B), Crude Petroleum ($3.25B), Electricity ($598M), Cement ($444M), and Palm Oil ($338M).

The same year, the principal destinations of internal exports were Mali ($3.44B), Cote d'Ivoire ($3.28B), Burkina Faso ($1.83B), Senegal ($1.42B), and Togo ($822M).

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

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Depth

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

In 2023, the top external exports of ECOWAS were United Arab Emirates ($25.4B), Switzerland ($19.8B), China ($13.8B), India ($10.2B), and United States ($9.59B).

The same year, the principal destinations of external exports were Gold ($50.3B), Crude Petroleum ($46.5B), Petroleum Gas ($8.42B), Aluminium Ore ($7.78B), and Cocoa Beans ($5.89B).

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

Flow
Color
Depth
Top Export (2023)Gold$50.5B
Top Destination (2023)United Arab Emirates$25.4B

In 2023, ECOWAS exported a total of $167B. During the last five reported years the exports of ECOWAS have changed by $34.6B from $132B in 2018 to $167B in 2023.

The most recent exports are led by Gold ($50.5B), Crude Petroleum ($49.7B), Petroleum Gas ($8.6B), Aluminium Ore ($7.78B), and Refined Petroleum ($5.98B). The most common destination for the exports of ECOWAS are United Arab Emirates ($25.4B), Switzerland ($19.8B), China ($13.8B), India ($10.2B), and United States ($9.59B).

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 Economic Community of West African States were Benin (-0.38), Senegal (-0.52), Niger (-0.66), Togo (-0.81), and Ghana (-0.92).

On the other hand, the countries with higher GDP per capita were Cape Verde ($4.85k), Cote d'Ivoire ($2.53k), Ghana ($2.26k), Senegal ($1.71k), and Nigeria ($1.6k).

Finally, the biggest exporters of ECOWAS were Nigeria ($61B), Ghana ($27.1B), Cote d'Ivoire ($22.3B), Guinea ($18B), and Burkina Faso ($8.35B).

GDP per capita v/s ECI for countries that comprise Economic Community of West African States (2023)

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