Countries

Gabon: trade by HS code

  • US$8bnExports 2024
  • US$3bnImports 2024
  • 950HS6 · Exports
  • Sub-Saharan AfricaRegion
  • Central African CFA Franc (XAF)Currency

Gabon exported goods worth US$8bn and imported US$3bn in 2024, in 950 and 3,493 different six-digit products.

Its main exports were crude oil (2709.00), manganese ores (2602.00) and other sawn tropical wood (4407.29).

Its largest customer was China and its largest supplier China.

In the 12 months to August 2026, the UK imported goods worth £117.1m from Gabon (+330% on the year before), above all crude oil, plywood with tropical wood face and other sawn tropical wood, and exported £29.8m to it.

Gabon has no preferential arrangement with the UK: its goods pay the standard third-country rates.

Gabon and the UK

UK imports£117.1m+330% · last 12 months
UK exports£29.8m+3% · last 12 months

What the UK imports from Gabon

  1. 2709.00Crude oil£111m
  2. 4412.31Plywood with tropical wood face£2.5m
  3. 4407.29Other sawn tropical wood£2.1m
  4. 4421.99Other wooden articles£492.7k
  5. 4407.28Wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether: of tropical wood, iroko£458.7k
  6. 3802.10Activated carbon£205.8k
  7. 4408.39Sheets for veneering: of tropical wood, other£67.4k
  8. 4408.10Sheets for veneering: coniferous£63.3k
  9. 9703.90Original sculptures (up to 100 years old)£51.1k
  10. 8412.21Hydraulic cylinders£31.4k

Data up to August 2026 (provisional) · HMRC

Gabon and the EU

EU imports€885.2m-21% · last 12 months
EU exports€908.5m-5% · last 12 months

What the EU imports from Gabon

  1. 2709.00Crude oil€440m
  2. 4407.29Other sawn tropical wood€88.8m
  3. 2602.00Manganese ores€81.2m
  4. 4408.39Sheets for veneering: of tropical wood, other€76m
  5. 4412.31Plywood with tropical wood face€57.8m
  6. 2710.19Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals: other€53.4m
  7. 2707.99Other coal tar distillation products€20.5m
  8. 1511.10Crude palm oil€19.5m
  9. 4409.22Wood (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring: non-coniferous, of tropical wood€9m
  10. 1513.21Palm kernel or babassu oil and fractions thereof: crude oil€7.8m

Data up to August 2026 (provisional) · Eurostat Comext

Top exports

  1. 2709.00Crude oilUS$5bn
  2. 2602.00Manganese oresUS$2bn
  3. 4407.29Other sawn tropical woodUS$338m
  4. 4408.39Sheets for veneering: of tropical wood, otherUS$167m
  5. 1511.10Crude palm oilUS$94m
  6. 4408.90Other veneer sheetsUS$74m
  7. 4412.31Plywood with tropical wood faceUS$74m
  8. 2707.99Other coal tar distillation productsUS$32m
  9. 7202.30Ferro-silico-manganeseUS$22m
  10. 4407.99Other sawn hardwoodUS$18m
  11. 7403.19Other unwrought refined copperUS$13m
  12. 4406.12Railway or tramway sleepers (cross-ties) of wood: not impregnated, non-coniferousUS$13m
  13. 1513.21Palm kernel or babassu oil and fractions thereof: crude oilUS$12m
  14. 1511.90Refined palm oil and fractionsUS$6m
  15. 4409.22Wood (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring: non-coniferous, of tropical woodUS$6m
  16. 7601.20Unwrought aluminium alloysUS$5m
  17. 4001.29Other natural rubber formsUS$4m
  18. 4407.28Wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether: of tropical wood, irokoUS$4m
  19. 4403.49Other tropical logsUS$3m
  20. 4001.22Technically specified natural rubber (TSR)US$3m

Top imports

  1. 0207.14Frozen chicken cuts and offalUS$89m
  2. 3004.90Other medicines, dosed or for retail saleUS$52m
  3. 8802.30Aeroplanes 2,000-15,000 kgUS$37m
  4. 1006.30Milled riceUS$33m
  5. 8704.23Diesel trucks, GVW over 20 tUS$33m
  6. 0202.30Frozen boneless beefUS$26m
  7. 1001.99Wheat and meslin (not seed, not durum)US$26m
  8. 8481.80Other taps, cocks and valvesUS$26m
  9. 7308.90Other steel structures and partsUS$22m
  10. 7214.20Steel rebar (deformed bars)US$22m
  11. 1604.13Prepared sardines and spratsUS$21m
  12. 8431.43Boring and drilling machinery partsUS$21m
  13. 1701.99Refined sugar (other)US$21m
  14. 2704.00Coke and semi-cokeUS$20m
  15. 8703.23Petrol cars, 1500-3000 ccUS$19m
  16. 2106.90Other food preparationsUS$19m
  17. 7304.29Oil well casing and tubing (non-stainless)US$18m
  18. 0203.29Other frozen porkUS$18m
  19. 8544.49Other electric conductors, up to 1000 VUS$18m
  20. 1901.90Other malt extract and flour preparationsUS$17m

Main buyers from Gabon

  1. China US$3bn
  2. Indonesia US$1bn
  3. Brazil US$730m
  4. Malaysia US$585m
  5. India US$521m
  6. Netherlands US$350m
  7. Italy US$341m
  8. Thailand US$256m
  9. Spain US$225m
  10. United States US$155m

Main suppliers of Gabon

  1. China US$514m
  2. France US$395m
  3. United States US$94m
  4. Brazil US$72m
  5. India US$54m
  6. Netherlands US$51m
  7. Belgium US$49m
  8. Türkiye US$45m
  9. Morocco US$35m
  10. Cambodia US$25m

Economy, trade and logistics

Key figures on the size of the economy, its place in world trade and how fast goods cross its borders, from the World Bank and UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Each value shows the year it refers to.

IndicatorValueYear
Economy
Population2.6m2025
GDP (current US$)US$21.4bn2025
GDP per person (current US$)US$8,2632025
Trade in goods and services, % of GDP85%2025
Trade
Share of world goods exports0.05%2025
Share of world goods imports0.02%2025
Products exported (SITC 3-digit groups)1382025
Export concentration index · 0 = exports spread evenly across products, 1 = a single product0.5482025
Average applied tariff, simple mean, all products18.8%2022
Average applied tariff, trade-weighted, all products16.6%2022
Logistics
Logistics Performance Index (LPI) · score from 1 (low) to 5 (high)2.42022
LPI: efficiency of customs and border clearance22022
Liner shipping connectivity index · rank 101 in the world36.32026 Q3
Container port throughput (TEU)180,8782024

Time and cost at the border (2019)

For one shipment of the country's typical traded product, as measured by the World Bank's Doing Business survey in its last edition; the survey has since been discontinued.

IndicatorImportExport
Border compliance (hours)8496
Documentary compliance (hours)12060
Border compliance (US$)US$1,320US$1,633
Documentary compliance (US$)US$170US$200

World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0); UNCTADstat (CC BY 3.0 IGO)

Questions and answers

What does Gabon export most?

In 2024, its largest export at the six-digit level was crude oil (HS 2709.00), worth US$5bn.

Does the UK have a trade agreement with Gabon?

No preferential rates are recorded for Gabon in the UK tariff, so the standard third-country duty applies, plus any anti-dumping or other measures that cover its goods.