Angola: Economic and Political Overview
Angola has considerably liberalised its trade scheme over the last few years. Trade represents around 67% of the country's GDP (World Bank, latest available data). The country is a member of SADC (Southern African Development Community) and ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States), and signed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement in May 2019. Custom duties are relatively low (9.5% in average). The imports of certain products, such as pharmaceuticals and agricultural products, still require authorisations from the concerned official ministries. Angola has also adopted the SADC guidelines on biotechnology, which ban the import of biotechnological particles. Delays in customs clearance at the ports still remain a major problem.
Oil exports account for more than 95% of total exports. The country is also a major exporter of diamonds and is exporting liquefied natural gas to the American, European and Japanese markets; other exports include, coffee, sisal, and fish. Imports mainly involve machinery, vehicles, spare parts, medicines, food, textiles, and military goods. Angola's main trade partners are China (more than 60% of exports), India, the European Union (Spain, Portugal) and the United States. In 2020 and 2021, Angola's oil revenues were impacted by the collapse of oil prices and restrictions under the OPEC+ production agreement.
Thanks to its comfortable oil revenues, Angola historically records a large but volatile trade surplus that should continue in the coming years. In 2020, merchandise exports decreased to USD 20.9 billion (from USD 34.7 billion in 2019), while imports dropped to USD 9.5 billion (from USD 14.1 billion). Services exports fell to USD 66 million (from USD 455 million in 2019), while imports dropped to USD 5.4 billion (from USD 8 billion) (WTO). In 2020, the trade balance declined to USD 11.4 billion, down from its 2019 level (USD 20.6 billion) (World Bank). Due to the fall in oil exports and the persistent impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the trade surplus narrowed further in 2021.
Foreign Trade Values | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Imports of Goods (million USD) | 14,463 | 15,798 | 14,127 | 9,543 | 11,795 |
Exports of Goods (million USD) | 34,613 | 40,758 | 34,726 | 20,937 | 33,581 |
Imports of Services (million USD) | 12,903 | 9,772 | 8,008 | 5,415 | 7,050 |
Exports of Services (million USD) | 985 | 631 | 455 | 66 | 94 |
Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data
Foreign Trade Indicators | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) | 52.3 | 66.4 | 57.8 | 51.9 | 60.5 |
Trade Balance (million USD) | 20,150 | 24,960 | 20,599 | 11,394 | 21,787 |
Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) | 7,341 | 15,502 | 12,881 | 5,859 | 14,830 |
Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) | 11.2 | -16.0 | -25.0 | -19.6 | -18.3 |
Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) | 24.5 | -7.6 | -17.4 | -6.7 | 10.4 |
Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) | 23.3 | 25.5 | 17.0 | 16.2 | 16.2 |
Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) | 29.0 | 40.8 | 40.8 | 35.6 | 44.3 |
Source: World Bank ; Latest available data
Foreign Trade Forecasts | 2022 | 2023 (e) | 2024 (e) | 2025 (e) | 2026 (e) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Volume of exports of goods and services (Annual % change) | 2.4 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 3.2 | 0.5 |
Volume of imports of goods and services (Annual % change) | 13.8 | 9.6 | 7.0 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook ; Latest available data
Note: (e) Estimated Data
Member of Southern African Development Community (SADC)
Member of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
Member of Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
Member of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Main Customers (% of Exports) |
2021 |
China | 60.2% |
India | 9.1% |
United Arab Emirates | 4.2% |
Thailand | 3.0% |
Singapore | 2.2% |
See More Countries | 21.3% |
Main Suppliers (% of Imports) |
2021 |
China | 15.1% |
Portugal | 12.1% |
India | 6.7% |
Togo | 5.5% |
Brazil | 4.7% |
See More Countries | 56.0% |
Source: Comtrade, 2022. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.
To go further, check out our service Import Export Flows.
0.6 bn USD of services exported in 2018 | |
86.22% | |
Business travelBusiness travel | 71.67% |
Personal travelPersonal travel | 14.55% |
4.90% | |
4.42% | |
3.15% | |
1.30% |
10.0 bn USD of services imported in 2018 | |
33.22% | |
26.80% | |
18.91% | |
5.55% | |
Personal travelPersonal travel | 4.97% |
Business travelBusiness travel | 0.58% |
3.95% | |
3.83% | |
3.18% | |
2.47% | |
1.05% | |
1.04% |
Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2023. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.
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Latest Update: March 2023