(Business in Cameroon) – Between 2017 and 2023, Cameroon imported goods worth CFA4,724.5 billion from China, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS) report on trade between the two countries. Over this period, imports from China increased by 82.6%, rising from CFA517.9 billion in 2017 to CFA946.1 billion in 2023.
Cameroonian exports to China also grew during this time, rising from CFA228.6 billion in 2017 to CFA231.8 billion in 2023. These figures show that Cameroon’s trade deficit with China has widened significantly over the past six years, reaching CFA714.3 billion in 2023, up from CFA289.2 billion in 2017. The average annual trade deficit during this period was CFA302.5 billion.
In 2023, China remained Cameroon’s top supplier with a market share of 18.9%, followed by India and France. Major imports from China include herbicides and germination inhibitors (4.9%), new tires for buses or trucks (3.1%), ceramic tiles and slabs (2.7%), polyethylene terephthalate (1.8%), glass containers like bottles and jars (1.6%), and flat-rolled iron/steel products (1.6%).
Export revenues to China are primarily from mineral and forest products: crude oil (57.8%), liquefied natural gas (10.5%), unprocessed Okan or Adoum wood (6.3%), and sawed Sapelli wood (3.7%).
