Foreign trade figures of Algeria

Foreign Trade in Figures

Algeria has an open economy in which foreign trade represents 53% of GDP (World Bank). Natural gas and petroleum products account for nearly all exports: in 2021, hydrocarbons represented 91% of the total volume of exports (39% natural gas, 37% crude oil and 17% motor fuels). Three groups of goods accounted for almost three-quarters of the total: industrial capital goods (26.7%); foodstuffs (23.5% - mainly cereal and dairy products); and semi-finished goods (23.2% - mainly steel products – Data French Ministry of the Economy). According to the National Centre of the Trade Register (CNRC), in 2022 the number of exporters registered in the Trade Register rose to 5,498 operators against 4,749 at the end of 2021.

The latest data from Comtrade shows that Italy is the top destination for Algerian exports (16%), followed by France, Spain, the United States and Brazil. China is by far the main supplier of goods in Algeria (18.1% of all imports), followed by France, Italy, Germany and Spain. Algeria is the EU's 28th biggest trade partner, representing 0.7% of the EU’s total trade in goods in 2020; whereas the EU is Algeria's biggest trade partner and accounts for the majority of Algeria’s international trade (46.7% - Eurostat, latest data available). Algeria ratified the Agreement on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in 2019 in Accra, Ghana. The agreement allows interested states to benefit from the progressive elimination of tariff barriers for a period of five years from its entry into force in July 2020. The agreement aims to free African states from dependence on the extraction of raw materials and promote inter-African trade.

While the trade balance was historically positive, the surplus has vanished completely since late 2012 and the country has had a trade deficit since 2015. This reduction was due to a sharp fall in hydrocarbon exports, which represent nearly all exports. Incomes have also decreased drastically with the fall of oil prices. Nevertheless, such a trend reversed in 2021 thanks to the uptick in energy prices and it improved further in 2022 as Algeria benefited from the consequences of the EU sanctions towards Russia, which led to an increase in European hydrocarbon imports from Algeria. Data from the World Bank shows that the country’s trade balance was positive by an estimated 0.2% of GDP in 2021. In the same year, exports of goods increased by almost 70% year-on-year, reaching USD 36.7 billion; whereas imports grew at a much slower pace (+2.5%, at USD 36 billion). In terms of services, the country exported the equivalent of USD 3 billion and imported USD 6.6 billion (data WTO).