According to INE's "External Trade Statistics for the 1st Quarter of 2023", a result of Angola's commercial transactions in international trade, the country's trade balance had a positive balance of 2.2 billion kwanzas in the first quarter of the current year, due to sales of oil, the main export product, despite the drop in price.
The document consulted this Tuesday by Lusa indicates that the first quarter of this year was marked by a decrease of 32.3 percent in the total value of exports, compared to the same period in 2022, and an increase of 12.5 percent in imports in the same period.
In the period under analysis, Asia led the destinations of Angolan exports, with 56.3 percent, followed by Europe, with 31 percent, and North America, with 3.6 percent, in relation to the total value.
With regard to imports, Angola turned mainly to the Asian continent (44.6 percent), then Europe (37.7 percent), North America (7.5 percent), and Central and South America (5 .1 percent).
As for imports, Angola turned to China, with 17.3 percent, followed by Portugal, with 11.5 percent, the Netherlands, with 9.8 percent, and India, with 7.1 percent and the United States of America, with 6.7 percent.
In the same period, the main African export partners of Angola were South Africa, with 72.4 percent, the Democratic Republic of Congo, with 11.6 percent, Namibia, with 5.8 percent, Ghana, with 2.2 percent, and Congo, with 1.8 percent, in relation to the total value of the African continent.
Angola made imports on the African continent, in the first quarter of the current year, in South Africa (61.6 percent), Namibia (10.8 percent), Algeria (4.4 percent), Egypt (3.4 percent percent), and Ghana (3.2 percent).
In the first three months of the year, it was found that mostly mineral fuels were exported (93.5 percent), followed by pearls, stones and precious metals with 5 percent of the total value of exports.
Machinery and appliances (22.3 percent), mineral fuels (20.2 percent), food products (11.3 percent), vehicles and other means of transport (10.3 percent) and chemical products (9.0 percent) led imports between January and March 2023.
According to the classification by major economic categories of goods, during the period under review, fuels and lubricants led exports, with 93.1 percent, industrial supplies not specified in another category, with 5.9 percent, and food goods, with 0.4 percent of the total amount.
"In imports were: capital goods (except transport equipment), their parts and accessories, with 23.8 percent; industrial supplies not Specified in another category, with 21.7 percent, and lubricant fuels, with 20.0 percent, in relation to the total value", says the statistic.
