(Business in Cameroon) – Cameroon’s exports took a hit in the third quarter of 2024, with a 4.9% decline compared to the same period the previous year, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS). In its latest quarterly national accounts report, published on February 25, the INS attributed this drop to a continued decline in non-crude oil exports, which fell by 6.5%. Exports of services also saw a downturn, dropping by 8.8% during the period.
The INS noted that the prolonged contraction in goods exports was mainly driven by a drop in manufactured products, along with declines in the export of logs and sawn timber. For example, the country saw a significant decrease in log exports. In 2022, Cameroon exported 1.7 million cubic meters of wood and wood products, but only 746 cubic meters of raw logs were shipped. This decline is partly due to the government’s policy of imposing higher taxes on raw wood products to encourage local processing and boost exports of higher-value products.
Exports of sawn timber, which is a processed form of wood, also remain low compared to the overall volume. Despite an increase of 165% in export duties between 2016 and 2023, only 1,223 cubic meters of sawn timber were exported in 2022 out of the total 1.7 million cubic meters of wood and wood products imported.
However, despite the overall decline, some sectors helped mitigate the economic impact. Notably, exports of agricultural processed products saw strong growth, as did the export of agricultural goods. Still, the overall decline in goods and services exports had a negative effect on the Cameroonian economy, reducing GDP growth by 0.7 percentage points in the third quarter of 2024, according to the INS.
