Côte d'Ivoire Export Trade Data: $18.35B in 2023, Up 11.7%

Cocoa Alone Accounts for Nearly a Third of Ivorian Exports

Côte d'Ivoire exported $18.35 billion worth of goods in 2023. That was up 11.7% from $16.43 billion the year before. Cocoa and cocoa preparations led every other category by a wide margin, worth $5.81 billion, or 31.6% of total export value. Côte d'Ivoire and neighboring Ghana together supply just under half of the world's cocoa. The crop remains the backbone of the Ivorian economy, in a way few single commodities dominate any national export list. Mineral fuels followed at 15.8% ($2.89 billion). Côte d'Ivoire is a modest oil producer in its own right and refines crude domestically. That makes it one of relatively few West African economies that processes fuel at home, rather than relying entirely on imported refined products.

Precious stones and metals, mostly gold, ranked third at 12.8% ($2.35 billion), reflecting a mining sector that has expanded quickly over the past decade. Newer mines in the country's north and west have come online across that stretch, turning gold into one of Côte d'Ivoire's fastest-growing export earners even as cocoa remains the dominant crop by far. Côte d'Ivoire produces roughly three-quarters of Africa's natural rubber, and that crop added 11.2% ($2.05 billion) to the export total. That makes the country the continent's dominant rubber supplier, and among the top handful worldwide. Fruit and nuts contributed 8.2% ($1.51 billion), a category likely led by cashews. Côte d'Ivoire is one of the world's largest raw cashew growers. Much of that crop still leaves the country unprocessed, though, shipped out for shelling and roasting elsewhere. Cocoa has increasingly taken a more value-added path through local grinding, but cashews largely have not followed the same shift yet. Ships, boats and floating structures took a further 5.5% ($1.00 billion). Animal and vegetable fats, essential oils and cosmetics, cotton, and plastics rounded out the top ten. None holds more than 2% of total export value on its own.

Amsterdam and Zurich Anchor Where Ivorian Cocoa Ends Up

The Netherlands ranked first among destinations, taking 11.5% of exports, worth $2.11 billion. The Port of Amsterdam, together with nearby Zaanstad, forms the largest cocoa cluster in the world, handling roughly a quarter of global cocoa bean processing. That makes it the natural landing point for a large share of what Côte d'Ivoire ships out. Switzerland followed at 10.6% ($1.95 billion). Switzerland processes only a sliver of global cocoa itself. Major trading houses run much of the world's cocoa purchasing and logistics from Swiss offices instead. That explains its outsized presence on the list despite modest domestic grinding capacity. Mali ranked third at 8.7% ($1.59 billion).

Mali is landlocked and relies heavily on Ivorian ports to move its own goods to and from the coast. That likely explains part of that figure, beyond direct consumption. Together, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Mali accounted for just 30.8% of total export value, a relatively low concentration for an economy this dependent on a handful of commodities. Malaysia and Vietnam followed almost tied, at 5.0% ($912.4 million) and 5.0% ($912.2 million) respectively. Both are established rubber processing centers that likely absorb a share of Ivorian raw rubber before it moves on to finished products. Burkina Faso, another landlocked neighbor, took 4.3% ($792.4 million). China supplied 4.2% ($776.7 million), United States 4.2% ($767.9 million), France 3.7% ($673.0 million), and Germany closed out the top ten at 3.5% ($650.0 million).

Five Years of Growth Through a Volatile Cocoa Market

Côte d'Ivoire's exports have grown in four of the last five years. The total stood at $12.72 billion in 2019. It slipped slightly to $12.45 billion in 2020, as the pandemic disrupted global commodity demand. Exports then jumped to $15.33 billion in 2021, climbed further to $16.43 billion in 2022, and reached $18.35 billion in 2023, an 11.7% increase. That marks a steady climb across nearly the entire five-year window, with only a mild pullback in 2020.

Cocoa prices swung sharply over that period. Global prices began climbing steeply in late 2023, as crop disease and poor weather cut output across West Africa. Ivorian cocoa shipments to port fell by roughly 30% during the 2023-24 season even as global prices spiked. That means some of the export-value growth captured in the 2023 total reflects higher prices on a smaller physical crop, not simply more cocoa moving out the door. A crop this concentrated in a single commodity leaves Côte d'Ivoire's total export figures more exposed to that kind of volatility than a more diversified economy would be. Even so, the five-year trend points upward more often than not. For a closer look at how individual partner countries or product categories moved year over year, the data panels above provide the full detail behind these figures.