01Key Takeaways
- Honduras exported $7.17 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 44.11% from $4.98 billion in 2021, the most recent confirmed prior-year figure available since 2022 is missing from this dataset.
- Coffee, tea, and spices led every export category at 20.88% ($1.50 billion), Honduras's signature agricultural export.
- Electrical machinery ranked a close second at 18.73% ($1.34 billion), powered largely by a manufacturing cluster that wires automotive harnesses for global carmakers.
- The USA absorbed 45.03% of all exports, worth $3.23 billion, by far Honduras's largest single market.
024-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $3.1B | $4.7B | $5.0B | $7.2B |
03Top Export Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | $3.2B | 45.0% |
| 2 | El Salvador | $464.1M | 6.5% |
| 3 | Nicaragua | $422.1M | 5.9% |
| 4 | Guatemala | $410.4M | 5.7% |
| 5 | Germany | $344.4M | 4.8% |
| 6 | Mexico | $290.5M | 4.1% |
| 7 | Netherlands | $199.1M | 2.8% |
| 8 | Dominican Republic | $186.1M | 2.6% |
| 9 | Belgium | $176.4M | 2.5% |
| 10 | Italy | $164.9M | 2.3% |
04Top Export Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coffee, Tea, Mate and Spices | $1.5B | 20.9% |
| 2 | Electrical Machinery and Equipment and parts thereof; Sound Recorders and Reproducers, Television Image and Sound Recorders and Reproducers, and Parts and Accessories of such Articles | $1.3B | 18.7% |
| 3 | Animal or Vegetable Fats and Oils and their Cleavage Products; Prepared Edible Fats; Animal or Vegetable Waxes | $612.0M | 8.5% |
| 4 | Fish and Crustaceans, Molluscs and other Aquatic Invertebrates | $391.7M | 5.5% |
| 5 | Edible Fruit and Nuts; Peel of Citrus Fruit or Melons | $384.5M | 5.4% |
| 6 | Tobacco and Manufactured Tobacco Substitutes | $237.5M | 3.3% |
| 7 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $222.5M | 3.1% |
| 8 | Residues and Waste from the Food Industries; Prepared Animal Fodder | $193.5M | 2.7% |
| 9 | Natural or Cultured Pearls, Precious or Semi-Precious Stones, Precious Metals, Metals Clad with Precious Metal, and Articles thereof; Imitation Jewellery; Coin | $176.1M | 2.5% |
| 10 | Iron and Steel | $173.9M | 2.4% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
Coffee, Car-Wiring Plants, and Cigars Drive What Honduras Sells Abroad
Honduras exported $7.17 billion worth of goods in 2023. Coffee, tea, mate, and spices led every category at 20.88% of the total, worth $1.50 billion. That figure cements coffee's long-standing role as the country's signature crop and its single largest export earner. Electrical machinery and equipment ranked a close second at 18.73% ($1.34 billion), a category built substantially on Honduras's automotive wire-harness manufacturing industry. Honduras's automotive harness sector generates roughly 13,000 jobs across a cluster of manufacturers supplying wiring sets to Ford, General Motors, BMW, Tesla, Audi, and other global carmakers. That work has expanded in recent years to include printed circuit board assembly, alongside the traditional wiring harnesses and wood dashboard components the industry started with.
Animal, vegetable, and microbial fats and oils followed at 8.53% ($611.98 million), a category dominated by palm oil grown along Honduras's Caribbean coast. Fish, crustaceans, and molluscs added 5.46% ($391.69 million). Edible fruit and nuts contributed 5.36% ($384.53 million), together with the fats-and-oils and fish categories reflecting the diversity of Honduras's agricultural export base beyond coffee alone. Tobacco and manufactured tobacco substitutes made up 3.31% of exports ($237.48 million), a category built on Honduras's premium hand-rolled cigar industry. Honduras is the third-leading exporter of cigars to the United States, shipping 60 to 70 million handmade cigars a year. That industry has roots in Cuban exile families such as the Plasencias, who fled Cuba in 1979. The family now farms more Honduran tobacco land than any competitor, while producing more than 30 million cigars annually themselves.
Plastics and articles thereof rounded out 3.10% ($222.53 million), and food-industry residues and prepared animal fodder added 2.70% ($193.51 million). Natural and cultured pearls, precious stones, and precious metals contributed 2.46% ($176.14 million), and iron and steel closed out the top ten categories at 2.43% ($173.91 million).
The USA Buys Nearly Half of Every Honduran Export Dollar
United States absorbed 45.03% of Honduras's exports in 2023, worth $3.23 billion. That dominance reflects both geographic proximity and the deep integration of Honduras's manufacturing base into North American supply chains. El Salvador followed at 6.47% ($464.05 million), and Nicaragua took 5.89% ($422.11 million). Both are Honduras's closest Central American neighbors and frequent trading partners under regional agreements.
Guatemala added 5.72% ($410.41 million), rounding out a top three of regional buyers that, combined with the USA, made up 57.38% of total export value. Germany contributed 4.80% ($344.41 million), a market that absorbs a meaningful share of Honduras's coffee crop. Mexico took 4.05% ($290.50 million). Netherlands added 2.78% ($199.11 million), Dominican Republic contributed 2.60% ($186.13 million), and Belgium took 2.46% ($176.40 million). Italy closed out the top ten list at 2.30% ($164.94 million).
A 44% Jump Since 2021, With a Gap Where 2022 Should Be
Honduras's export total climbed from $3.09 billion in 2019 to $4.67 billion in 2020, then to $4.98 billion in 2021. That growth continued even through the early stages of the pandemic. The dataset used here has no confirmed figure for 2022. The next data point available is the $7.17 billion total recorded for 2023, an increase of 44.11% measured from 2021 rather than from the immediately preceding year. That gap means the true year-over-year change for 2022 to 2023 can't be calculated from this data. The 44.11% figure should be read as a two-year comparison, not a standard annual growth rate.
Even with that gap, the direction is clear. Honduras's exports were on a sustained upward path across the years that are confirmed, and the 2023 total marks the highest point in this window. Coffee prices, demand for the country's electrical-machinery exports, and steady cigar shipments to the USA all likely played a role in sustaining that growth. Without a confirmed 2022 figure, though, it isn't possible to say how much of the increase happened in a single year versus spread across two.