Togo - International trade

For the past 20 years Togo has had a net trade deficit , reaching $50 million in 1999, with exports at US$400 million and imports at US$450 million. Exports and imports both contracted in 1992 and 1993, but in 1994 the currency devaluation boosted agricultural exports, which meant that the trade deficit fell to $37 million from US$111 million in 1993. The main destinations for exports in 1994 were France, Benin, Ghana, and Canada, while imports came from France, Germany, Côte d'Ivoire, and China.

In 1998 trade revenue from cotton and cocoa fell, despite an increase in the volume exported, due to unfavorable world prices. However, phosphate exports increased both in terms of volume and revenue collected.

Trade (expressed in billions of US$): Togo
	Exports	Imports
1975	.126	.174
1980	.338	.551
1985	.190	.288
1990	.268	.581
1995	.208	.386
1998	N/A	N/A
SOURCE: International Monetary Fund. International Financial Statistics Yearbook 1999.

Exchange rates: Togo
Communauté Financiére Africaine francs per US$1
Jan 2001	699.21
2000	711.98
1999	615.70
1998	589.95
1997	583.67
1996	511.55
Note: From January 1, 1999, the CFA Fr is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 CFA Fr per euro.
SOURCE: CIA World Factbook 2001 [ONLINE].

Re-exports increased in 1998 (as in every year since 1994), and accounted for 20 percent of exports in 1998. France is historically the main importer of goods, but the suspension of aid led to a decrease in French imports and an increase in Chinese imports. However, the published data underestimate cross-border trade with Benin, Ghana, and Nigeria, much of which goes unrecorded.