Cambodia Export Trade Data: $21.68B in 2023, Up 5.4%

The United States Dominates Cambodia's Export Market

Cambodia shipped $21.68 billion worth of goods abroad in 2023, up 5.4% from $20.58 billion the year before. United States absorbed 41.5% of that total, worth $9.00 billion, more than the combined value of the next nine partners on this list. U.S. trade officials describe the United States as Cambodia's largest single-country export destination, a relationship built primarily on garments, footwear, and travel goods rather than any single blockbuster product. That reliance on one buyer leaves Cambodia's export earnings unusually exposed to shifts in U.S. trade policy or consumer demand, since no other single market comes anywhere close to absorbing a comparable share of the country's output.

China ranked a distant second at 7.0% ($1.51 billion), followed by Vietnam at 6.2% ($1.35 billion) and Japan at 5.4% ($1.18 billion). Canada took fifth place at 4.0% ($869.55 million), ahead of Germany at 3.8% ($815.65 million) and the United Kingdom at 3.7% ($796.48 million). Spain added 3.3% ($713.48 million), Singapore 2.9% ($621.68 million), and the Netherlands rounded out the top ten at 2.6% ($566.34 million). Together, the USA, China, and Vietnam, the top three destinations, account for 54.7% of total export value, underscoring how heavily Cambodia's export earnings depend on one dominant buyer far more than on any broader spread of markets.

Garments, Footwear, and a Fast-Growing Solar Trade

Apparel dominates what Cambodia sells abroad. Knitted apparel and clothing accessories led every category in 2023, worth $5.48 billion and accounting for 25.3% of total export value, while non-knitted apparel added another 11.0% ($2.39 billion). Leather goods, travel bags, and similar items contributed 7.9% ($1.71 billion), and footwear added a further 6.3% ($1.37 billion). Taken together, these four labor-intensive, apparel-adjacent categories cover roughly half of everything Cambodia ships abroad, matching the garment-and-footwear description of the U.S. trade relationship above.

Electrical machinery and equipment ranked second among categories at 14.5% of total value, worth $3.14 billion, a share that has grown quickly in recent years as solar panel and module assembly expanded across Cambodia. That growth has drawn scrutiny from U.S. trade authorities: the U.S. Commerce Department determined that solar cells from Cambodia, along with Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, were being dumped into the U.S. market while receiving countervailable subsidies, with companies in Cambodia found to be receiving subsidies traced back to the Government of China, among the first such findings of their kind. Given that scrutiny, the solar segment's rapid rise in Cambodia's category rankings may prove harder to sustain in coming years than the more established garment trade, even though it still counted as a major contributor to the total in the latest reporting year. The remaining top categories are more varied: natural and precious stones and jewelry added 4.7% ($1.02 billion), furniture 4.1% ($889.65 million), rubber and rubber articles 3.9% ($844.49 million), cereals 3.8% ($815.84 million), and vehicles 2.6% ($569.13 million).

A Five-Year Climb Built on Manufacturing Relocation

Cambodia's export total has grown almost every year since 2019. It stood at $14.82 billion that year, then rose to $17.72 billion in 2020, a rare increase during a year when trade collapsed across most of the world, likely reflecting how quickly manufacturers already based in Cambodia kept factories running even as demand and logistics elsewhere seized up, before pulling back slightly to $16.95 billion in 2021 as global demand for goods cooled from its pandemic-era peak. Exports then jumped to $20.58 billion in 2022 and climbed further to $21.68 billion in 2023, up 5.4% year over year. Overall, the export base grew by close to half over five years, an unusually fast pace tied to manufacturers shifting labor-intensive garment production, and more recently electronics and solar assembly, out of China toward lower-cost Southeast Asian bases in search of cheaper labor and a way around tariffs targeting Chinese-origin goods.

That relocation pattern helps explain both halves of Cambodia's export profile: a long-established garment and footwear industry built on cheap labor, and a newer electrical machinery segment that grew fast enough to draw its own scrutiny from trade regulators. With more than 40% of exports flowing to a single market and roughly half the total tied to apparel-adjacent categories, Cambodia's growth remains closely linked to sourcing decisions made well outside its own borders. For a closer look at how individual partner countries or product categories break down year over year, the data panels above provide the full detail behind these figures.