Ethiopia obtained 753 Million US dollars in revenue from exports in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. This is a 33% increase on revenue from last year.

The revenue was raised from the export of 275,611 tonnes of produce sent to an estimated 94 countries. A significant percentage of the export revenue, 84 million US dollars, was earned from German exports.

Other top export destinations include Somalia, China, Sudan, and Saudi Arabia. More than 88% of total exports were made to an estimated 20 countries.

Main export products include livestock, Chat, oil seeds, fruits and vegetables as well as the largest export item, coffee. Coffee is the single most significant source of export revenue earning 118 million US dollars.  

There has been a change noted in the export destinations with Germany over taking Somalia as the number one importer of Ethiopian produce. The bulk of German of exports from Ethiopia consist primarily of coffee (68.3%) increasing 1.2 million dollars from the last fiscal year. Textile exports to Germany have also increased significantly.

On a larger scale Europe remains the top Ethiopian export destination with 36% of all exports going to the continent. Asia led by China is also fast becoming an important source of export revenue. Exports to Africa and the United States make up 23.7% and 2.9% of all exports.

The export revenue falls 16.3% short of the more than 901 million USD target income set by the government.

Source : Capital