The Republic of Rwanda is a small, sovereign country located a few degrees south of the equator in east-central Africa.

Imports

In 2022, Rwanda imported $5.124 billion worth of products to the world. Compared to $3.736 billion in 2021, Rwanda's total exports increased by 37.14% year-on-year.

Rwanda's Imports 2022 By Country

The latest Tendata Tradedata shows that Rwanda's imports are mainly purchased by exporters from the following countries:

1. China (21%, $1.07 billion)

2. Tanzania (11%, $567 million)

3.Kenya (9.34%, $478 million)

4. India (9.27%, $475 million)

5. United Arab Emirates (8.17%, $419 million)

6. Saudi Arabia (3.15%, $161 million)

7. South Africa (2.55%, $130 million)

8. Belgium (2.45%, $125 million)

9. Indonesia (2.1%, $107 million)

10. Turkey (2.01%, $103 million)

Rwanda's Top 10 Imports

1.Mineral fuels, mineral oils and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes (15.3%)

2.Natural or cultured pearls, precious or semi-precious stones, precious metals, metals clad with precious metal and articles thereof; imitation jewelry; coin (9.95%) jewelry; coin (9.95%)

3. 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 (6.95%) 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 (6.28%)

4. Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances (6.01%)

5. Cereals (5.29%)

6.Animal, vegetable or microbial fats and oils and their cleavage products; prepared edible fats; animal or vegetable waxes (4.42%)

7. Iron and steel (3.9%)

8. Sugars and sugar confectionery (3.8%)

9.Articles of iron or steel (3.3%)

10.Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling stock, and parts and accessories (3.1%)

Exports

In 2022, Rwanda exported $2.019 billion worth of exports to the world. Compared to $1.562 billion in 2021, Rwanda's total exports increased by 29.23% year-on-year.

Rwanda's top five most valuable exports are unforged gold, coffee, tea (including spices), sanitary napkins and baby napkins or liners, followed by items made of flat or non-alloy steel.

Rwanda's Top Trading Partners

The latest Tendata Tradedata shows that Rwandan exports are mainly purchased by importers from the following countries:

United Arab Emirates (31.8% of Rwanda's total), Greece (19.2%), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (10.7%), Kenya (8.1%), Zambia (6.9%), Australia (4.1%), Switzerland (2.9%), Ethiopia (1.8%), United States (1.69%), Central African Republic (1.66%), South Sudan ( 1.39%) and Congo (1.37%).

Rwanda's Top 10 Exports

1. coffee, tea, spices: $556 million (38.7% of total exports)

2. Gems, precious metals: $456.2 million (31.8%)

3. Iron and steel: $71.3 million (5%)

4. milling products, malt, starch: $59.2 million (4.1%)

5. Miscellaneous manufactured goods: $58.7 million (4.1%)

6. Cereal/milk products: $43.4 million (3%)

7. Salt, sulfur, stone, cement: $41.7 million (2.9%)

8. Vehicles: $18.3 million (1.3%)

9. Clothing, accessories (not knitted or crocheted): $12.6 million (0.9%)

10. food industry waste, animal feed: $9 million (0.6%)

Rwanda's top 10 exports accounted for 92.4% of its total global exports.

Miscellaneous manufactured goods is the fastest growing of the top ten export categories, growing by 866.9% from 2021 to 2022. The second highest improvement in export sales was in Rwanda's exports of iron and steel metal, which grew by 214.9%. Rwanda's exports in the coffee, tea and spices product category grew the third fastest, by 188.2 percent.

The biggest drop in Rwanda's top 10 export categories was cereal or dairy products, down -32.9% year-on-year.

According to the more detailed HSN codes, unwrought gold was Rwanda's most valuable export, accounting for 31.7% of the African country's total exports. In second place were coffee (30.7%), tea (including flavored tea) (7.6%), sanitary napkins and baby napkins or liners (4%), articles made of flat or non-alloy steel (3.3%), flour or malt-extracted food preparations (3%), water-setting cement (2.9%), wheat or maize-slintered flour (2.7%), bars and rods of iron or non-alloy steel (1.6%), then Armored vehicles including tanks (0.9%).