Ranked: The Countries Most Dependent on Agricultural Exports
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Between 2019 and 2021, agricultural products accounted for more than one-third of the total value of global commodity exports. This graphic ranks the most agriculturally-export-dependent countries in the world, using data from UN Trade & Development (UNCTAD).
For this graphic we have only included countries where agricultural products represent more than 75% of its total exports. Resource dependency can make a country vulnerable to economic shocks via price fluctuations.
Ranked: Countries that Rely Heavily on Agricultural Exports
In Micronesia, a staggering 98% of all its exports are agricultural, of which 89% are fish in various forms. In fact, five of the top 10 countries are small island nations in the Pacific. Four of them also have fish as their top agricultural export.
Below is a more extensive list showing countries whose agricultural products make up more than 60% of their total exports. Also listed: their most-valued agriculture export in 2022, sourced from the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
| Rank | Country | % of Merchandise Exports From Agriculture |
Top Agricultural Export (2022) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇫🇲 Micronesia | 98% | 🐟 Fish |
| 2 | 🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau | 94% | 🌰 Cashew Nuts |
| 3 | 🇲🇼 Malawi | 93% | 🚬 Raw Tobacco |
| 4 | 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands | 89% | 🌲 Rough Wood |
| 5 | 🇲🇻 Maldives | 88% | 🐟 Fish |
| 6 | 🇻🇺 Vanuatu | 86% | 🐟 Fish |
| 7 | 🇰🇮 Kiribati | 84% | 🐟 Fish |
| 8 | 🇹🇴 Tonga | 82% | 🐟 Fish |
| 9 | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | 79% | 🐄 Bovine Meat |
| 10 | 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | 77% | ☕ Coffee |
| 11 | 🇳🇿 New Zealand | 77% | 🥛 Milk |
| 12 | 🇦🇷 Argentina | 76% | 🌱 Soybean Meal |
| 13 | 🇬🇲 Gambia | 75% | 🥜 Groundnuts |
| 14 | 🇧🇿 Belize | 75% | 🍬 Sugar |
| 15 | 🇼🇸 Samoa | 69% | 🥥 Coconut Oil |
| 16 | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | 68% | 🌱 Soybeans |
| 17 | 🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire | 67% | 🍫 Cocoa Beans |
| 18 | 🇸🇴 Somalia | 67% | 🐑 Sheep & Goats |
| 19 | 🇦🇫 Afghanistan | 65% | ☁️ Raw Cotton |
| 20 | 🇸🇾 Syria | 63% | 🫒 Pure Olive Oil |
| 21 | 🇸🇩 Sudan | 62% | 🌿 Sesame Seeds |
| 22 | 🇧🇯 Benin | 61% | ☁️ Raw Cotton |
| 23 | 🇨🇫 Central African Republic | 60% | 🌲 Rough Wood |
Maldives, in the Indian ocean, is also within the top 10. Its top agricultural export is also fish. Interestingly, the Observatory of Economic Complexity states “Planes, Helicopters, and Spacecraft” as Maldives’ top overall export in 2022 ($433M). However, it’s possible that this might be a case of re-exportation.
Aside from fish, various kinds of nuts and edible oils are also popular categories of agricultural exports.
Regionally, these agricultural-export-dependent countries are spread between Asia, Oceania, Africa, and South America. Europe and North America are not represented in this list.
There are also correlations between resource export dependency and economic maturity. The UN found that 67% of the world’s developing nations were resource-export-dependent in some way: between agriculture, energy, and mining.
