Kiribati

📊 Overview

Kiribati stands as the world's #197 largest exporter and #209 largest importer, demonstrating emerging market dynamics.

The trade profile reveals a deficit of 74.91 million, reflecting import dependencies for growth.

The country maintains active trading relationships with 20 major partners, creating a highly diversified trade network.

Monthly trade flows average $20.12M, generating continuous economic activity across logistics, finance, and trade services.

🚢 Export Markets

Export concentration shows Thailand as the dominant market at 85.3%. The top three markets control 94.3% of exports.

Regional patterns reveal globally balanced access. Secondary markets (Malaysia, USA, Czechia) provide $1.95M in additional trade.

📦 Import Sources

Kiribati relies heavily on China for imports (23.9%),creating supply chain concentration risk.

Energy suppliers including Norway (8.50M) collectively provide 8.50 million or 5.4% of imports, highlighting the economy's dependence on imported energy resources.

Manufacturing inputs come primarily from China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, reflecting deep integration into Asian production networks. China's dominant position at 37.74 million encompasses electronics components, textiles, machinery parts, and consumer goods, creating both efficiency benefits and concentration risks.

The USA provides 1.11 million (0.7%) in imports, concentrated in agricultural products, aircraft, pharmaceuticals, and advanced technology.The top 10 import sources account for 91.3% of total imports, with the remaining 9% distributed among 10 other suppliers.

Regional sourcing patterns reveal strong ASEAN integration with 5 Southeast Asian nations providing 16.12 million (10.2%) of imports. European suppliers including Belgium (471,025), France (409,497) focus on luxury goods, machinery, and specialized chemicals.

Supply chain resilience strategies increasingly emphasize "China Plus One" approaches, with Thailand, Indiaemerging as alternative manufacturing bases. The geographic proximity of major suppliers balances efficiency with risk diversification.

📦 Product Composition

🚀 Export Products

Kiribati's export economy centers on diversified industrial production, with the leading export being frozen, skipjack or stripe-bellied bonito, excluding fillets, fish meat of 0304, and edible fish offal of subheadings 0303.91 to 0303.99at $54.88 million, accounting for 65.9% of total exports.

Electronics, semiconductors, and machinery contribute 1.36 million or 1.6% of exports.

The automotive sector's dominance is evident in the export portfolio, with . This automotive specialization reflects decades of manufacturing excellence, continuous innovation in fuel efficiency and hybrid technology, and established global brand recognition.

The transition to electric and hybrid vehicles is captured in export data, with 1 categories specifically related to alternative propulsion systems, totaling $181,630.

Beyond automotive, Kiribati maintains strong positions in industrial machinery (3 categories totaling 1.14M), electronic components (217,629), and Fish, Fish fillets.

The top 20 export products collectively account for 99.5% of total exports, revealing moderate concentration with room for further diversification.

🛒 Import Products

Import requirements center on n.e.c. in heading no. 8901, for the transport of goods and other vessels for the transport of both persons and goods at 9.16 million (5.8%), indicating technology and machinery requirements.

Beyond energy, critical imports include n.e.c. in heading no. 8901, for the tran... (9.16M, 5.8%), for filtering or purifying water (8.94M, 5.6%), other, including lifeboats other than ro... (8.55M, 5.4%), rice, semi-milled or wholly milled, whet... (6.37M, 4.0%), of fowls of the species Gallus domesticu... (4.62M, 2.9%).Electronic components and devices total 1.58 million (1.0% of imports), supporting domestic manufacturing and assembly operations.

The import product mix reveals structural characteristics of Kiribati's economy: integration into global electronics supply chains, food security dependencies, and sophisticated consumption patterns.

The ratio of raw materials to finished goods in imports (14 : 6among top 20 products) indicates significant value-addition activities domestically. Import substitution potential exists in technology sectors through targeted industrial policies and investment.

Product diversification metrics reveal focused product specializationwith implications for economic resilience and growth potential. The technology ladder progression from 9 primary products to 6 high-tech goods indicates the economy's structural transformation and industrial upgrading trajectory.

Value addition opportunities exist in transitioning from raw material exports to processed goods, from components to finished products, and from standard to customized offerings. The product space connectivity, measuring relatedness between current exports and potential new products, suggests strong potential for diversification into adjacent sophisticated products.

⚖️ Trade Balance Dynamics

Export-to-import ratio of 0.526 means exports cover 52.6% of import costs.

🔗 Key Relationships

The Kiribati-Thailand relationship leads at 76.73 million in bilateral trade.View detailed analysis →

Additional major partnerships include Australia (31.88M total trade), Fiji (24.71M total trade), Japan (16.48M total trade). Regional integration through Asian supply chains facilitates technology transfer, market access, and production efficiency. The diversity of trading relationships—222.00M across top 10 partners—provides resilience against bilateral tensions and regional disruptions.

🏆 Competitive Position

Global rankings position Kiribati as the #197 exporter worldwide,in the developing trader category. The country's share of global exports at approximately 0.001%offers opportunities for market share expansion.

Export sophistication, measured by the dominance of primary commodities, indicates potential for value chain upgrading. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index shows strongest competitiveness in sectors where Kiribati's global market share exceeds its overall trade share by factors of 2 or more.

Competitive advantages emerge in sectors where export concentration exceeds import share, particularly infrozen, skipjack or strip, frozen, yellowfin tunas (, frozen, tunas (of the gen. The revealed comparative advantage is strongest in product categories representing88.9% of exports. Market positioning against regional competitors shows niche specialization opportunities.

Trade complementarity with major partners suggests regional production network participation. The export quality ladder, comparing unit values to world averages, indicates competitive pricing strategies.

Competitive dynamics are shaped by factor endowments including cost advantages and resource availability, infrastructure quality, and business environment. The export survival rate, measuring the persistence of export relationships over time, suggests need for relationship strengthening.

Innovation capacity, reflected in the technology content of exports and R&D intensity, determines long-term competitiveness trajectories. The competitive threat from emerging exporters in similar product categories requires continuous upgrading and differentiation strategies to maintain market position. Regional integration through trade agreements provides preferential access to0 markets, creating competitive advantages over non-member competitors.

🎯 Strategic Outlook

The trade profile presents both opportunities and challenges for economic development strategy. Key strengths include strong import capacity enabling technology transfer and consumption growth,diversified market access reducing concentration risk, and competitive positions in essential commodities.

Vulnerabilities include excessive reliance on single export markets. The intersection of these factors creates a complex strategic landscape requiring careful navigation to maximize opportunities while mitigating risks.

Strategic priorities should focus on export promotion and import substitution to enhance trade competitiveness. Opportunities exist in expanding trade with United Kingdom, Bosnia Herzegovina, China, developing new product capabilities in higher technology sectors, and strengthening regional integration through new partnership frameworks.

The digital transformation of trade, including e-commerce, digital services, and blockchain-based trade finance, offers new avenues for market access and efficiency gains. Green trade opportunities in renewable energy, sustainable products, and carbon markets represent growing segments aligned with global sustainability goals.

The evolving global trade environment, characterized by technological disruption, geopolitical realignment, and sustainability imperatives, will fundamentally reshape Kiribati's trade prospects. Success requires balanced policies addressing both improving export capacity while ensuring sustainable import financing.

Investment in infrastructure, education, and innovation ecosystems will determine the ability to climb value chains and capture larger shares of global value addition. The resilience agenda, emphasizing supply chain robustness, strategic autonomy in critical sectors, and economic security considerations, must be balanced with efficiency and openness principles.

As global trade patterns continue evolving, Kiribati's position as the world's #197 exporter provides a platform for continued growth, requiring adaptive strategies, institutional strengthening, and sustained commitment to competitiveness enhancement in an increasingly complex and interconnected global economy.