Over the fourth quarter of 2022, the volume of goods and services exported from Cameroon increased by 3.2% YoY, the national stats agency (INS) reported. In detail, the export of goods rose by 5.3% while that of services grew by 3.9% over the period.

The institute found that the improvement in exports of goods was essentially driven by exports of products from agriculture (17.4%) and energy extraction (15.1%). However, "a slight decline in the exports in the agro-processing industries and the exports of timber logs and sawn wood slowed the overall increase in exports," INS said.

On the import side, “the volume during the fourth quarter fell by 4% YoY, following a 4.4% drop in the previous quarter”. This downward trend is the result of the decline in demand for products from the chemical manufacturing industry, the paper industry, furniture manufacturing, and other manufacturing industries.

The good news is that this import-export evolution over the period has helped improve the trade balance, which although in deficit by 3.8% of GDP in Q4 2022, has improved slightly compared with the same period in 2021.