Zambia

📊 Overview

Zambia stands as the world's #85 largest exporter and #113 largest importer, demonstrating emerging market dynamics.

The trade profile reveals a robust surplus of 5.20 billion, indicating strong export competitiveness.

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

Monthly trade flows average $2.19B, generating continuous economic activity across logistics, finance, and trade services.

🚢 Export Markets

Export concentration shows Switzerland as the dominant market at 27.2%. The top three markets control 54.0% of exports.

Regional patterns reveal globally balanced access. Secondary markets (Singapore, South Africa, Zimbabwe) provide $1.74B in additional trade.

📦 Import Sources

Zambia relies heavily on South Africa for imports (26.6%),creating supply chain concentration risk.

Energy suppliers including United Arab Emirates (1.02B), Saudi Arabia (317.41M), Qatar (113.04M) collectively provide 1.45 billion or 13.8% of imports, highlighting the economy's dependence on imported energy resources.

Manufacturing inputs come primarily from China, Malaysia, reflecting deep integration into Asian production networks. China's dominant position at 1.59 billion encompasses electronics components, textiles, machinery parts, and consumer goods, creating both efficiency benefits and concentration risks.

The USA provides 211.64 million (2.0%) in imports, concentrated in agricultural products, aircraft, pharmaceuticals, and advanced technology.The top 10 import sources account for 75.3% of total imports, with the remaining 25% distributed among 10 other suppliers.

Regional sourcing patterns reveal diversified global sourcing. European suppliers including Germany (108.16M) focus on luxury goods, machinery, and specialized chemicals.

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

📦 Product Composition

🚀 Export Products

Zambia's export economy centers on diversified industrial production, with the leading export being unrefined, copper anodes for electrolytic refiningat $6.95 billion, accounting for 44.2% of total exports.

Vehicle-related products including passenger cars, hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, and automotive parts total approximately 153.36 million or 1.0% of exports, encompassing 1 distinct product categories.

The automotive sector's dominance is evident in the export portfolio, with dumpers, designed for off-highway use, for transpo... (153.36M). 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 $338.43M.

Beyond automotive, Zambia maintains strong positions in specialized equipment,, and Copper, Metals.

The top 20 export products collectively account for 87.8% of total exports, revealing moderate concentration with room for further diversification.

🛒 Import Products

Energy dominates Zambia's import profile, with fossil fuels accounting for 1.72 billion or 16.3% of total imports. Crude oil leads at 1.72 billion (16.3%), 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 than sublimed, precipitated and co... (300.32M, 2.9%), dumpers, designed for off-highway use, f... (259.43M, 2.5%), nitrogenous, urea, whether or not in aqu... (223.75M, 2.1%), road, for semi-trailers (217.39M, 2.1%), non-industrial, (other than unworked or ... (167.19M, 1.6%).Pharmaceutical products represent 135.86 million (1.3%), reflecting healthcare sector demands. Metal ores and minerals contribute 102.00 million (1.0%), feeding industrial processing capacity.

The import product mix reveals structural characteristics of Zambia'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 (10 : 10among top 20 products) indicates balanced import composition. Import substitution potential exists in agriculture and technology and chemicals 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 12 primary products to 1 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 1.494 means exports cover 149.4% of import costs.

🔗 Key Relationships

The Zambia-Switzerland relationship leads at 4.36 billion in bilateral trade.View detailed analysis →

Additional major partnerships include South Africa (3.25B total trade), United Arab Emirates (2.90B total trade), India (2.54B total trade). Regional integration through Asian supply chains facilitates technology transfer, market access, and production efficiency. The diversity of trading relationships—20.97B across top 10 partners—provides resilience against bilateral tensions and regional disruptions.

🏆 Competitive Position

Global rankings position Zambia as the #85 exporter worldwide,in the developing trader category. The country's share of global exports at approximately 0.157%offers opportunities for market share expansion.

Export sophistication, measured by the dominance of technology-intensive products, indicates advanced industrial capabilities. The revealed comparative advantage (RCA) index shows strongest competitiveness in sectors where Zambia'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 inunrefined, copper anodes , refined, unwrought, catho, gold, non-monetary, unwro. The revealed comparative advantage is strongest in product categories representing71.7% 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 consistent trade surpluses supporting macroeconomic stability,diversified market access reducing concentration risk, and competitive positions in high-value manufacturing.

Vulnerabilities include product concentration in cyclical sectors. The intersection of these factors creates a complex strategic landscape requiring careful navigation to maximize opportunities while mitigating risks.

Strategic priorities should focus on market diversification and value chain upgrading to enhance trade competitiveness. Opportunities exist in expanding trade with Namibia, Malawi, Egypt, developing new product capabilities in adjacent product categories, 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 Zambia's trade prospects. Success requires balanced policies addressing both maintaining export competitiveness while managing currency appreciation pressures.

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, Zambia's position as the world's #85 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.