Somali flag (flagpictures.org)

Located on the continent’s northeast extremity known as the Horn of Africa, the Federal Republic of Somalia shipped US$723.3 million worth of exported products around the world in 2024.

That calculated dollar amount reflects a 52.2% acceleration from $475.1 million 5 years earlier in 2020.

Year over year, the overall value of Somalian exported goods dropped by -31.1% compared to $1.05 billion starting from 2023.

The latest available country-specific data shows that 96.4% worth of products exported from Somalia was bought by importers in: Saudi Arabia (48.7% of the Somalian total), Oman (30.1%), India (4.3%), Qatar (3.1%), Türkiye (2.9%), Bahrain (2.2%), Kuwait (1.5%), France (1%), Japan (0.95%), Egypt (0.7%), Kenya (0.6%) and mainland China (0.4%).

From a continental perspective, 95.4% of Somalia’s exports by value was delivered to fellow Asian countries while 2.2% was sold to importers in Europe. Somalia shipped another 1.9% worth of goods to customers based in Africa.

Smaller percentages went to buyers in North America (0.4%), Latin America (0.1%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania’s Australia and New Zealand only (0.01%).

Given Somalia’s population of 16.5 million people, its estimated $723.3 million in 2024 exports translates to roughly $45 for every resident in the Horn of Africa country. That dollar metric exceeds the average $15 per capita one year earlier in 2023.

Somalia’s top 10 export product categories accounted for 97.2% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Machinery including computers was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 1,196% from 2023 to 2024.

In second place for improving export sales was oil seeds via a 144.9% advance.

Somalia’s shipments of live animals posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 22.2%.

The leading decliner among Somalia’s top 10 export categories was fish, thanks to a -82.8% year-over-year reduction.

At the more granular four-digit Harmonized Tariff System code level, live sheep and goat represent Somalia’s most valuable exported product at 62.9% of the country’s total. In second place were miscellaneous live animals (11.3%), live bovine cattle (9.4%), oil seeds (3.9%), computers including optical readers (2.1%), iron or steel scrap (1.5%), natural gums, resins and balsams (1.3%), fresh or dried citrus fruit (1.1%), frozen whole fish (1%) then paper containers and cellulose wadding (0.8%).

The following types of Somali product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.

In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.

Overall Somalia incurred an estimated -US$2.54 billion trade deficit for 2024, shrinking by -40.2% from -$4.25 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2023.

Below are exports from Somalia that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Somalia’s goods trail Somali importer spending on foreign products.

Not one Somali corporation ranks among the Forbes Global 2000.

Wikipedia also lists exports-related companies from Somalia. Selected examples are shown below.

 
In macroeconomic terms, Somalia’s total exported goods represent an estimated 2.4% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($32 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 2.4% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 0.7% for 2023. Those metrics suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Somalia’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Somalia’s unemployment rate averaged 18.861% in 2024, down from an average 18.941% one year earlier in 2023 according to Trading Economics metrics.

Somalia’s capital city is Mogadishu.

See also South Sudan’s Top 10 Exports, Saudi Arabia’s Top 10 Imports, Angola’s Top 10 Exports and Top African Export Countries

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Somalia. Accessed on October 4, 2025

FlagPictures.org, Flag of Somalia. Accessed on October 4, 2025

Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 4, 2025

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 4, 2025

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 4, 2025

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 4, 2025

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on October 4, 2025

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Somalia. Accessed on October 4, 2025

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on October 4, 2025

Wikipedia, Somalia. Accessed on October 4, 2025