The Gambia - International trade

The main export of the Gambia is groundnuts. Other exports include fish (and its products) and some cotton. The largest international trade activity by far is the import of food, machinery, transport equipment, manufactured goods, and fuels—some of which are re-exported to the neighboring countries. The chief export partners are Belgium-Luxembourg, Japan, the UK, Germany, and France, and the chief import partners are Côte d'Ivoire, China, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands.

The CFA devaluation of 1994 resulted in a reduction in regional re-exports, export earnings, and import expenditures. While exports have recovered slowly, imports have risen more quickly to pre-1994 levels. In 1998 total exports were worth US$132 million and imports US$201 million.

Trade (expressed in billions of US$): Gambia
	Exports	Imports
1975	.044	.060
1980	.031	.165
1985	.043	.093
1990	.040	.199
1995	.016	.140
1998	.019	.245
SOURCE: International Monetary Fund. International Financial Statistics Yearbook 1999.

Exchange rates: Gambia
dalasi (D) per US$1
Jan 2001	15.000
Q3 1999	12.729
1999	11.395
1998	10.643
1997	10.200
1996	9.789
SOURCE: CIA World Factbook 2001 [ONLINE].