01Key Takeaways
- Honduras imported $14.38 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 23.64% from $11.63 billion in 2021, the most recent confirmed prior-year figure available since 2022 is missing from this dataset.
- Mineral fuels led every import category at 18.06% ($2.60 billion), since Honduras has no domestic oil refining capacity.
- Vehicles ranked second at 10.41% ($1.50 billion), followed closely by machinery and electrical equipment feeding the country's export-manufacturing sector.
- The USA supplied 35.35% of imports, worth $5.08 billion, by far Honduras's largest source.
024-Year Trend
| Year | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | $9.2B | $8.0B | $11.6B | $14.4B |
03Top Import Markets (2023)
| Rank | Partner | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | $5.1B | 35.4% |
| 2 | China | $2.3B | 16.3% |
| 3 | Mexico | $1.0B | 7.2% |
| 4 | Guatemala | $757.8M | 5.3% |
| 5 | El Salvador | $595.0M | 4.1% |
| 6 | Costa Rica | $526.9M | 3.7% |
| 7 | Japan | $329.1M | 2.3% |
| 8 | Brazil | $283.9M | 2.0% |
| 9 | India | $252.5M | 1.8% |
| 10 | Germany | $211.0M | 1.5% |
04Top Import Categories (2023)
| Rank | Category | Value | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mineral Fuels, Mineral Oils and Products of their Distillation; Bituminous Substances; Mineral Waxes | $2.6B | 18.1% |
| 2 | Vehicles other than Railway or Tramway Rolling-Stock, and parts and accessories thereof | $1.5B | 10.4% |
| 3 | Nuclear Reactors, Boilers, Machinery and Mechanical Appliances; Parts thereof | $1.0B | 7.3% |
| 4 | 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 | $1.0B | 7.2% |
| 5 | Pharmaceutical Products | $771.2M | 5.4% |
| 6 | Iron and Steel | $674.6M | 4.7% |
| 7 | Plastics and Articles thereof | $559.3M | 3.9% |
| 8 | Miscellaneous Edible Preparations | $455.6M | 3.2% |
| 9 | Cereals | $455.2M | 3.2% |
| 10 | Residues and Waste from the Food Industries; Prepared Animal Fodder | $430.5M | 3.0% |
05Trade Partner Map
06Analysis
A Country With No Refinery Buys Every Drop of Fuel It Burns
Honduras imported $14.38 billion worth of goods in 2023. Mineral fuels led every category at 18.06% of the total, worth $2.60 billion. Honduras has no domestic oil refining capacity, so it imports essentially all its transport fuel and much of the fuel that powers its electricity grid. Honduras imported 3.2 million barrels of refined fuel in a single month in early 2024, with bunker fuel oil supplying more than 47% of the country's daily electricity generation. Some of that fuel travels from ports as distant as the Bahamas and Ecuador, since Honduras has no crude oil production of its own to draw on.
Vehicles ranked second at 10.41% ($1.50 billion), a category spanning personal cars, trucks, and the logistics fleet that Honduras's export-manufacturing sector depends on. Machinery and mechanical appliances added 7.28% ($1.05 billion), and electrical machinery and equipment followed closely at 7.20% ($1.04 billion). Much of that machinery and equipment flows into Honduras's free-trade-zone manufacturing parks, which import raw materials and equipment duty-free to feed assembly work such as automotive wire-harness production for re-export. Goods entering Honduras's free-zone manufacturing regime are exempt from customs duties, surcharges, and internal taxes, with automotive harness assembly listed as one of the regime's core industries, a mechanism built specifically for manufacturers assembling wire harnesses, electronics, and textiles for export back out of the country.
Pharmaceutical products added 5.36% ($771.16 million), and iron and steel contributed 4.69% ($674.55 million), tied to ongoing construction activity across the country. Plastics and articles thereof took 3.89% ($559.27 million). Miscellaneous edible preparations and cereals followed closely, at 3.17% ($455.58 million) and 3.17% ($455.24 million). Food-industry residues and prepared animal fodder closed out the top ten at 2.99% ($430.54 million).
The USA and China Together Supply More Than Half of Honduras's Imports
United States supplied 35.35% of Honduras's imports in 2023, worth $5.08 billion, by far the largest single source. China followed at 16.26% ($2.34 billion), and Mexico took 7.21% ($1.04 billion). Together, these top three suppliers made up 58.82% of total import value.
Guatemala added 5.27% ($757.83 million), and El Salvador contributed 4.14% ($594.97 million), both close regional trading partners. Costa Rica took 3.66% ($526.95 million). Japan added 2.29% ($329.07 million), and Brazil contributed 1.97% ($283.87 million). India took 1.76% ($252.53 million), and Germany closed out the top ten list at 1.47% ($211.03 million).
Imports Up 24% Since 2021, With the Same Gap in 2022
Honduras's import total moved from $9.16 billion in 2019 to $7.97 billion in 2020, a decline tied to the pandemic's disruption of trade and construction activity. It rebounded sharply to $11.63 billion in 2021. The dataset used here has no confirmed figure for 2022. The next data point available is the $14.38 billion total recorded for 2023, an increase of 23.64% measured from 2021 rather than from the immediately preceding year. As with Honduras's export figures for the same window, that gap means the true year-over-year change for 2022 to 2023 can't be calculated from this data. The 23.64% figure should be read as a two-year comparison, not a standard annual growth rate.
Even with that gap, the pattern lines up with what's driving Honduras's export growth over the same period. Rising fuel costs, an expanding vehicle fleet, and continued investment in free-zone manufacturing equipment all likely contributed to the increase. Without a confirmed 2022 figure, though, it isn't possible to say how much of the jump happened in a single year versus spread across two.