Liberia Trade & FDI Briefing Q3 2023
Quarterly review of Liberia's trade performance, FDI flows, and key trading partner dynamics in Q3 2023. Highlights improvement in export volumes despite persistent trade deficit.
Trade Performance Q3 2023
Liberia's merchandise trade deficit narrowed modestly in Q3 2023, with exports reaching USD 245 million against imports of USD 332 million — a deficit of USD 87 million for the quarter.
Export Composition
- Iron ore: 62% of total exports
- Rubber: 18% of total exports
- Gold: 8% of total exports
- Cocoa and coffee: 5% of total exports
- Other: 7%
Import Composition
- Petroleum products: 28%
- Food and beverages: 22%
- Machinery and transport equipment: 18%
- Manufactured goods: 16%
- Other: 16%
Trading Partners
China remains Liberia's largest trading partner, accounting for approximately 38% of total trade. The United States, India, Netherlands, and South Korea round out the top five.
FDI Highlights
Cumulative FDI through Q3 2023 reached USD 235 million, on track to exceed the full-year 2022 figure of USD 285 million. Mining and infrastructure continue to attract the most foreign capital.
Remittances
Remittances are a critical component of household income in Liberia. Through Q3 2023, remittance inflows totaled USD 372 million, primarily from Liberian diaspora in the United States.
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Primary sources
- CBL
- — Central Bank of Liberia: Annual Report and Monthly Economic Review: monetary policy, exchange rates, banking soundness, balance of payments
- MFDP
- — Ministry of Finance and Development Planning: National Budget, budget execution reports, public debt and fiscal transfers
- LISGIS
- — Liberia Institute of Statistics and Geo-Information Services: 2022 Population and Housing Census, consumer price index, external trade and household surveys
- LRA
- — Liberia Revenue Authority: Annual Report: tax and non-tax collections, taxpayer register, filing and payment compliance
- IMF
- — International Monetary Fund: Article IV consultation reports, World Economic Outlook and fiscal/debt analysis
- World Bank
- — World Bank Group: World Development Indicators, Liberia Economic Update, debt and poverty statistics
- UNDP
- — United Nations Development Programme: Human Development Report and its index components
- WHO
- — World Health Organization: Global Health Observatory: mortality, immunization and health-system estimates
Each figure above is attributed to the publishing institution and its reporting period. Derived and AI-generated forecasts are labelled separately from published data.