Solomon Islands - Foreign trade



Overseas trade volume expanded rapidly in the mid-1990s, but the economic woes in Asia in the late 1990s caused the export market to contract significantly. The distribution of the Solomon Islands' trade continues to be limited by the huge distances to potential export markets. The Solomon Islands' major exports are timber (68%) and fish (14%). Other exports include palm oil (6.5%), oil seeds (4.3%), and cocoa (1.7%).

In 1996 the Solomon Islands' imports were distributed among the following categories:

Solomon Islands

Consumer goods 13.4%
Food 13.7%
Fuels 24.7%
Industrial supplies 20.1%
Machinery 13.2%
Transportation 12.8%
Other 2.1%

Principal trading partners in 1998 (in millions of US dollars) were as follows:

Solomon Islands

COUNTRY EXPORTS IMPORTS BALANCE
Japan 55 9 46
Thailand 39 3 36
United Kingdom 13 2 11
Philippines 11 2 9
Korea 10 9 1
Germany 9 1 8
Singapore 6 12 -6
China (inc. Hong Kong) 6 5 1
Australia 4 60 -56
New Zealand 1 7 n.a.

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