Madagascar consistently runs a trade deficit. Exports consist mainly of unprocessed agricultural products and some extracted minerals. Textiles are Madagascar's major export commodity (29%), followed by spices (14%), coffee (7.1%), and gemstones (6.5%). Other exports include preserved fruit (4.4%) and shellfish (4.1%).
Refined petroleum products were formerly imported in large quantities, but development of domestic refinery capacity altered this pattern. Madagascar now exports a small amount of petroleum products to East Africa and to other Indian Ocean islands. Crude petroleum still must be imported. In 1999 Madagascar's imports were distributed among the following categories:
Consumer goods | 11.3% |
Food | 12.8% |
Fuels | 23.9% |
Industrial supplies | 22.9% |
Machinery | 15.4% |
Transportation | 12.3% |
Other | 1.6% |
Principal trading partners in 1999 (in millions of US dollars) were as follows:
COUNTRY | EXPORTS | IMPORTS | BALANCE |
France | 88 | 105 | -17 |
Singapore | 17 | 7 | 10 |
Germany | 15 | 24 | -9 |
United States | 13 | 15 | -2 |
Italy | 12 | 8 | 4 |
Mauritius | 9 | 6 | 3 |
China (inc. Hong Kong) | 6 | 35 | -29 |
United Kingdom | 5 | 9 | -4 |
Japan | 3 | 26 | -23 |
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