(Business in Cameroon) – In the first quarter of 2025, Cameroon’s cocoa exports soared to XAF 500.3 billion, accounting for a remarkable 44.8% of the nation’s total export earnings. While export volumes held steady at approximately 77,000 tons, their value skyrocketed by 134.5% compared to the same period in 2024. Among processed goods, cocoa paste contributed XAF 58 billion, followed by cocoa butter at XAF 23 billion and chocolate products at XAF 2 billion.
Throughout 2024, Cameroon’s total exports reached XAF 3,252 billion, an 8.8% increase from 2023. Cocoa was a primary driver of this growth, with its export value nearly doubling to XAF 1,001 billion from XAF 519 billion in 2023. This surge resulted in cocoa accounting for 30.8% of all exports for the year, supported by a volume increase from 275,000 tons in 2023 to approximately 300,000 tons in 2024.
Despite the revenue growth, Cameroon’s cocoa production has been stagnant, hovering between 250,000 and 300,000 tons annually since 2019. After peaking at 301,000 tons in the 2019/20 season, output slightly decreased to 292,000 tons in 2020/21 before recovering to 296,000 tons in 2023/24. Preliminary estimates for the 2024/25 season suggest this trend will continue. Key challenges hinder growth: approximately 60% of cocoa trees are over 30 years old, and diseases consistently reduce potential yields by 15-20%. The national supply is predominantly managed by approximately 200,000 smallholder farmers, primarily located in the Central and South-West regions.
Cocoa’s importance to Cameroon’s economy is growing, with its share of total exports climbing steadily from 25% in 2019 to 31% in 2024 and reaching nearly 45% in the first quarter of 2025. However, value-added processing remains limited, with processed goods accounting for only 7.5% of cocoa exports as of early 2025. The Netherlands remains the dominant market, purchasing over 70% of Cameroon’s cocoa in 2023 and exhibiting similar trends in 2024.
The dramatic surge in export values is a direct result of volatile international prices. New York cocoa futures, which averaged $3,280 per ton in 2023, jumped to an average of $6,000 in 2024. Prices peaked above $10,000 per ton in early 2025 before correcting to around $6,690 in October, resulting in a year-to-date average of nearly $7,200 per ton. Analysts predict prices will stabilize around the $6,000 mark in the 2025/26 season, primarily due to anticipated production increases of 20% from Ecuador and 15% from Brazil.
The boom in cocoa revenue has significantly improved Cameroon’s overall trade position. In the first quarter of 2025, the trade deficit narrowed substantially to XAF 32.7 billion, down from XAF 275.2 billion during the same period in 2024. Consequently, the export-to-import coverage ratio surged from 75.2% to 97.2%. This positive trend was also evident for the full year 2024, where coverage increased to 65.1% from 59.9% in 2023.
This performance is set against a backdrop of global market dynamics. Global cocoa supply fell by 12.9% to 4.37 million tons during the 2023/24 season, just as demand was expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 7.3% between 2019 and 2025. In this context, Cameroon solidified its position as the world’s fifth-largest producer, accounting for 5.3% of global output in the 2023/24 season.
Idriss Linge
