Lebanon flag Lebanon: Economic and Political Overview

Foreign trade figures of Lebanon

Foreign Trade in Figures

The share of Lebanon’s foreign trade has been declining sharply in recent years and stood at nearly 79% of GDP in 2021, up from 50% one year earlier mostly due to the contraction in GDP (data World Bank). Lebanon mainly exports minerals (gold), diamonds, furniture, grapes, motor cars and ferrous waste and scrap. The country mainly imports mineral fuels (more than one-fourth of total imports), motor cars, gold, medicaments, and diamonds (data Comtrade 2021).

Lebanon’s main export partners are the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Cameroun, Qatar, Egypt, and the U.S.; whereas imports come chiefly from the EU (mainly Greece, Italy, Germany and France), Turkey, China, the U.S., and the United Arab Emirates (Comtrade).
The war in Syria, the drop in demand from countries in the region and the economic and political crisis in Lebanon are having a negative impact on Lebanese exports, while imports are also hindered by the lack of hard currency. The country's trade balance is structurally in deficit, a trend that should worsen in the upcoming future.
 
According to WTO data, in 2021 Lebanese merchandise exports stood at USD 4.5 billion as opposed to USD 13.8 billion in imports. No data is available for the trade in services; however, for the same year, the World Bank estimated the overall trade deficit to account for 26.8% of Lebanon’s GDP. According to preliminary data by the Bank of Lebanon, in the first half of 2022 exports of goods totalled USD 2.3 billion against USD 8.5 billion in imports; concerning trade in services, exports reached USD 3.6 billion vis-à-vis USD 2.7 billion in imports.

 
Foreign Trade Values 20172018201920202021
Imports of Goods (million USD) 19,91120,39619,64111,35513,857
Exports of Goods (million USD) 4,0263,8304,8294,0854,590
Imports of Services (million USD) 13,81514,24313,3365,7340
Exports of Services (million USD) 15,13615,55113,5824,9850

Source: World Trade Organisation (WTO) ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Indicators 20172018201920202021
Foreign Trade (in % of GDP) 68.568.362.650.178.8
Trade Balance (million USD) -14,459-14,912-13,454-6,584-8,343
Trade Balance (Including Service) (million USD) -13,130-13,621-12,938-6,432-7,236
Imports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 2.11.3-9.5-46.0-12.2
Exports of Goods and Services (Annual % Change) 3.9-4.7-0.9-53.713.1
Imports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 46.547.542.033.852.8
Exports of Goods and Services (in % of GDP) 21.920.820.616.426.0

Source: World Bank ; Latest available data

Foreign Trade Forecasts 20222023 (e)2024 (e)2025 (e)2026 (e)
Volume of exports of goods and services (Annual % change) 0.00.00.00.00.0
Volume of imports of goods and services (Annual % change) 0.00.00.00.00.0

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook ; Latest available data

Note: (e) Estimated Data

 
International Economic Cooperation
Lebanon is a member of the following international economic organisations: IMF, Arab Fund for Economic and Development (AFESD), ICC, Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), G-24, G-77, Arab League, WTO, among others. For the full list of economic and other international organisations in which participates Lebanon click here. International organisation membership of Lebanon is also outlined here.
Free Trade Agreements
The up-to-date list of Free Trade Agreements signed by Lebanon can be consulted here.
 

Main Partner Countries

Main Customers
(% of Exports)
2022
United Arab Emirates 23.3%
Türkiye 4.5%
Egypt 4.4%
Iraq 4.2%
Switzerland 4.1%
See More Countries 59.6%
Main Suppliers
(% of Imports)
2022
China 13.8%
Türkiye 12.4%
Greece 9.8%
Italy 5.8%
United States 5.0%
See More Countries 53.2%

Source: Comtrade, 2023. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 

Main Products

3.9 bn USD of products exported in 2022
Diamonds, whether or not worked, but not mounted...Diamonds, whether or not worked, but not mounted or set (excl. unmounted stones for pick-up styluses, worked stones, suitable for use as parts of meters, measuring instruments or other articles of chapter 90) 11.3%
Polyacetals, other polyethers and epoxide resins,...Polyacetals, other polyethers and epoxide resins, in primary forms; polycarbonates, alkyd resins, polyallyl esters and other polyesters, in primary forms 6.9%
Gold, incl. gold plated with platinum, unwrought...Gold, incl. gold plated with platinum, unwrought or not further worked than semi-manufactured or in powder form 5.1%
Ferrous waste and scrap; remelting scrap ingots of...Ferrous waste and scrap; remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel (excl. slag, scale and other waste from the production of iron or steel; radioactive waste and scrap; fragments of pigs, blocks or other primary forms of pig iron or spiegeleisen) 3.8%
Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally...Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars (excl. motor vehicles of heading 8702) 3.7%
See More Products 69.2%
19.5 bn USD of products imported in 2022
Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous...Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals (excl. crude); preparations containing >= 70% by weight of petroleum oils or of oils obtained from bituminous minerals, these oils being the basic constituents of the preparations, n.e.s.; waste oils containing mainly petroleum or bituminous minerals 28.2%
Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally...Motor cars and other motor vehicles principally designed for the transport of persons, incl. station wagons and racing cars (excl. motor vehicles of heading 8702) 7.4%
Gold, incl. gold plated with platinum, unwrought...Gold, incl. gold plated with platinum, unwrought or not further worked than semi-manufactured or in powder form 5.3%
Diamonds, whether or not worked, but not mounted...Diamonds, whether or not worked, but not mounted or set (excl. unmounted stones for pick-up styluses, worked stones, suitable for use as parts of meters, measuring instruments or other articles of chapter 90) 2.6%
Diodes, transistors and similar semiconductor...Diodes, transistors and similar semiconductor devices; photosensitive semiconductor devices, incl. photovoltaic cells whether or not assembled in modules or made up into panels (excl. photovotaic generators); light emitting diodes; mounted piezoelectric crystals; parts thereof 2.1%
See More Products 54.4%

Source: Comtrade, 2023. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

 
 

To go further, check out our service Import Export Flows.

 

Main Services

4.9 bn USD of services exported in 2020
48.45%
31.98%
5.82%
2.82%
2.48%
2.20%
2.15%
1.97%
1.28%
0.46%
0.39%
4.8 bn USD of services imported in 2020
34.88%
22.36%
19.35%
9.02%
7.80%
2.18%
1.61%
1.14%
0.79%
0.77%
0.10%

Source: United Nations Statistics Division, 2023. Because of rounding, the sum of the percentages may be smaller/greater than 100%.

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Latest Update: September 2023

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