Syria - Foreign trade



During the 1980s, Syria focused on increasing its trade with socialist nations. However, when the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, Syria increased trade with European nations. In 2000, the EU countries took 66% of exports and supplied 31% of imports, while countries of the Middle East took 28% of exports and supplied 14% of imports. Syria's main export commodities are crude petroleum (69%) and refined petroleum products (7.0%). Other exports include cotton (4.3%), vegetables (2.9%), garments (2.8%), and fruits and nuts (2.0%).

In 2000 Syria's imports were distributed among the following categories:

Syria

Consumer goods 2.7%
Food 12.9%
Fuels 3.7%
Industrial supplies 51.7%
Machinery 14.0%
Transportation 7.5%
Other 7.5%

Principal trading partners in 2000 (in millions of US dollars) were as follows:

Syria

COUNTRY EXPORTS IMPORTS BALANCE
Italy 1,484 237 1,247
France 1,045 180 865
Turkey 482 191 291
Saudi Arabia 272 160 112
Lebanon 189 n.a. n.a.
Spain 180 83 97
Germany 137 258 -121
United States 49 258 -209
Ukraine n.a. 236 n.a.
China (inc. Hong Kong) n.a. 204 n.a.

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