Laos posts $13B in int’l trade, surplus of $1B in 2021
Laos posts $13B in int’l trade, surplus of $1B in 2021
Laos recorded a trade surplus of $1.000 billion during 2021, and the total value of the country’s imports and exports, excluding electricity exports, was $13.000 billion.
Exports were worth about $7.000 billion, while imports were valued at $6.000 billion. The figures for 2021 are posted on the Lao Trade Portal, managed by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The main exports included gold ore and gold bars worth $962 million, paper and paper products worth $530 million, and wood pulp and waste paper worth $300 million.
The export of rubber contributed $270 million, while $265 million came from the export of cassava, $243 million from iron ore, $235 million from bananas, $190 million from garments, $150 million from electrical appliances and equipment, $150 million from fertilisers, $122 million from camera parts and $101 million from footwear.
Among the main imports were vehicles, excluding motorcycles and tractors ($463 million), diesel ($448 million), mechanical equipment excluding motor vehicles ($372 million) and precious or semi-precious stones ($271 million).
Other key imports were spare parts, including plastic, mirrors and chains ($220 million), steel and steel products and magnetics ($217 million), pharmaceuticals ($209 million), plastic products ($187 million), electrical appliances ($175 million), petrol ($132 million), scrap and waste from food ($123 million), camera equipment ($109 million) and wood and wood products ($100 million).
China topped the list of five main countries for exports with a figure of $2.221 billion, and the others were Thailand ($2.187 billion), Vietnam ($1.220 billion), Australia ($348 million) and Switzerland ($116 million).
The five main importing countries were Thailand ($3.000 billion), China ($1.255 billion), Vietnam ($499 million), the US ($250 million) and Japan ($148 million).
