According to the Zambian Central Statistical Office (CSO) August 2014 Monthly Bulletin, the country recorded a trade surplus valued at ZMW 117.2 Million in July 2014, meaning that in nominal terms, the country exported more than it imported in July 2014.
The surplus was of ZMW 43.8 Million in June 2014.
Zambia’s main export products were in the intermediate goods category (mainly comprising copper cathodes and sections of refined copper) accounting for 84.9 % of the country’s total exports.
The other 15.1 % consisted of Consumer Goods (8 %), Raw Materials (4.7 %) and Capital Goods (2.4 %).
The bulletin shows that in relation to exports, Zambia’s main trading partners in July 2014 were Switzerland, China, Congo DR, South Africa and Australia, which all combined accounted for 83.4 % of Zambia’s total total export earnings.
By regional groupings, Zambia’s main export destinations in July 2014 were Asia (18.6 %), the Southern African Development Community, (SADC, 17.6 %), The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA, 12.7 %) and the European Union (EU, 3.2 %).
Zambia’s most imported products were Capital Goods (46.3 %), with the major source countries being South Africa (33.7 %), China (8.8 %) and Kuwait (7.4 %).
In regional groupings, Zambia mostly imported products from SADC (46.1 %), Asia (29.4 %), COMESA (17.5 %) and EU (11 %).
In 2014, the highest trade surplus valued at ZMW 295.3 Million was recorded in January and the lowest was in April 2014, at ZMW 29.5 Million.
