(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon has consistently recorded a trade surplus with Italy for the past decade, averaging CFA104.7 billion per year. This data comes from a report by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), which highlights Cameroon’s trade with G7 countries and the BRICS+ group.
According to the document, Italy is the only country within these two groups where Cameroon maintains a trade surplus, dating back to 2014. Between 2019 and 2023, Cameroon had an average annual trade deficit of CFA337 billion with G7 nations and CFA583 billion with BRICS+.
Italy’s demand for Cameroonian products is so high that, in 2023, it ranked as Cameroon’s 6th largest trading partner globally, just ahead of Chad, the top African client. Italy purchased 275,900 tons of goods from Cameroon, worth CFA132.5 billion, which accounted for 4.4% of Cameroon’s total exports that year.
Within the European Union, Italy moved up to 3rd place among Cameroon’s top clients in 2023, holding an 8.7% market share. The main exports from Cameroon to Italy include crude oil (68.2%), sawn wood (12.9%), veneer sheets (9%), and raw aluminum (5.8%). Together, these products represent 95.9% of Cameroon’s exports to Italy.
On the import side, despite a slight decline in the value of imports from Italy in 2023, the country remained Cameroon’s 5th largest supplier, holding 7.3% of the market. Cameroon imported goods worth CFA97 billion, with mechanical machinery (39.8%), iron and steel products (10%), plastics (6.1%), and electrical machinery (5.6%) being the key imports. In recent years, Italian wine imports have also risen in Cameroon.
For instance, in 2022, Cameroonian importers bought Italian wines worth €1.369 million (about CFA900 million). This represents a 75.58% increase compared to 2021, according to Trade Data Monitor, which tracks trade statistics from over 115 countries covering 99% of global trade.
