Vanuatu

📊 Overview

Vanuatu stands as the world's #186 largest exporter and #195 largest importer, demonstrating emerging market dynamics.

The trade profile reveals a deficit of 274.30 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 $55.78M, generating continuous economic activity across logistics, finance, and trade services.

🚢 Export Markets

Export concentration shows Thailand as the dominant market at 48.6%. The top three markets control 76.9% of exports.

Regional patterns reveal strong East Asian integration. Secondary markets (Australia, Fiji, Philippines) provide $20.69M in additional trade.

📦 Import Sources

Vanuatu relies heavily on China for imports (26.3%),creating supply chain concentration risk.

Manufacturing inputs come primarily from China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, reflecting deep integration into Asian production networks. China's dominant position at 124.06 million encompasses electronics components, textiles, machinery parts, and consumer goods, creating both efficiency benefits and concentration risks.

The USA provides 8.36 million (1.8%) in imports, concentrated in agricultural products, aircraft, pharmaceuticals, and advanced technology.The top 10 import sources account for 89.3% of total imports, with the remaining 11% distributed among 10 other suppliers.

Regional sourcing patterns reveal strong ASEAN integration with 5 Southeast Asian nations providing 79.31 million (16.8%) of imports. European suppliers including France (8.96M), Netherlands (1.11M) 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

Vanuatu'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 $69.27 million, accounting for 35.1% of total 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 0 categories specifically related to alternative propulsion systems, totaling $0.

Beyond automotive, Vanuatu maintains strong positions in specialized equipment,, and Fish, Plants and parts (including seeds and fruits) n.e.c. in heading no. 1211, of a kind used primarily in perfumery, in pharmacy or for insecticidal, fungicidal or similar purposes, fresh, chilled, frozen or dried, whether or not cut, crushed or powdered.

The top 20 export products collectively account for 97.7% of total exports, revealing moderate concentration with room for further diversification.

🛒 Import Products

Energy dominates Vanuatu's import profile, with fossil fuels accounting for 73.09 million or 15.5% of total imports. Crude oil leads at 68.17 million (14.4%), followed by natural gas and coal. This energy import dependency shapes economic policy, inflation dynamics, and strategic relationships with supplier nations.

Beyond energy, critical imports include other, including lifeboats other than ro... (52.69M, 11.2%), of fowls of the species Gallus domesticu... (11.03M, 2.3%), compression-ignition internal combustion... (10.03M, 2.1%), rice, semi-milled or wholly milled, whet... (8.68M, 1.8%), bakers' wares n.e.c. in heading no. 1605... (6.96M, 1.5%).Electronic components and devices total 9.98 million (2.1% of imports), supporting domestic manufacturing and assembly operations.

The import product mix reveals structural characteristics of Vanuatu'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 (12 : 8among top 20 products) indicates significant value-addition activities domestically. Import substitution potential exists in technology and agriculture 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 17 primary products to 2 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 need for capability building to enter new product categories.

⚖️ Trade Balance Dynamics

Export-to-import ratio of 0.419 means exports cover 41.9% of import costs.

🔗 Key Relationships

The Vanuatu-China relationship leads at 137.99 million in bilateral trade.View detailed analysis →

Additional major partnerships include Australia (78.29M total trade), Angola (52.61M total trade), Japan (49.64M total trade). Regional integration through Asian supply chains facilitates technology transfer, market access, and production efficiency. The diversity of trading relationships—592.71M across top 10 partners—provides resilience against bilateral tensions and regional disruptions.

🏆 Competitive Position

Global rankings position Vanuatu as the #186 exporter worldwide,in the developing trader category. The country's share of global exports at approximately 0.002%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 Vanuatu'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, Plants and parts (includi, frozen, yellowfin tunas (. The revealed comparative advantage is strongest in product categories representing57.3% 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 Spain, New Zealand, Gabon, 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 Vanuatu'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, Vanuatu's position as the world's #186 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.