Belarus shipped US$23.4 billion worth of goods around the globe in 2016, up by 9.9% since 2009 when the Great Recession kicked in but down by -12.2% from 2015 to 2016.
Belarus top 10 exports accounted for over two-thirds (68.9%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
Based on statistics from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook Database, Belarusian total Gross Domestic Product amounted to $165.4 billion as of October 2016. Therefore, exports accounted for about 14.2% of total Belarusian economic output.
From a continental perspective, 82.9% of Belarusian exports by value are delivered to other European countries while 10% are sold to Asian importers. Belarus ships just 0.9% worth of its total exports to North America with 0.7% going to Africa.
Given the Belarusian population of 9.6 million people, its total $23.4 billion in 2016 exports translates to roughly $2,500 for every resident in that country.
Unemployment in Belarus was 0.9% as of January 2017 according to Trading Economics.
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Belarusian global shipments during 2016. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Belarus.
- Mineral fuels including oil: US$4.9 billion (20.8% of total exports)
- Fertilizers: $2.4 billion (10.4%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $1.8 billion (7.9%)
- Vehicles : $1.8 billion (7.9%)
- Machinery including computers: $1.3 billion (5.6%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $912.6 million (3.9%)
- Wood: $843.7 million (3.6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $755.2 million (3.2%)
- Meat: $690.9 million (3%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $643.2 million (2.7%)
Dairy, eggs and honey was the fastest-growing among the top 10 export categories, up 78.5% in value over the 7-year period starting in 2009.
The second-fastest gainer was Belarusian exported plastics up 66.4% followed by a 54.7% appreciation for the value of Belarus’ fertilizer shipments.
The only other category to improve export sales was plastics which gained a tepid 12.1%.
Only the mineral fuels including oil category fell in value, down by -39% from 2009 to 2016.
The following types of Belarusian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports is the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Fertilizers: US$2.4 billion (Up by 60.5% since 2009)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $1.8 billion (Up by 77.6%)
- Wood: $728.5 million (Up by 345.4%)
- Meat: $604.6 million (Up by 57.5%)
- Vehicles : $504.1 million (Down by -1329.2%)
- Meat/seafood preparations: $220.7 million (Up by 43.9%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting , signs, prefab buildings: $212.8 million (Up by 16.2%)
- Glass: $85.5 million (Up by 61.5%)
- Manmade staple fibers: $72.7 million (Down by -50%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $64.5 million (Down by -65%)
Belarus has highly positive net exports in the international trade of fertilizers. In turn, these cashflows indicate Belarus’s strong competitive advantages under the fertilizers product category.
Below are exports from Belarus that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Belarus goods trail Belarusian importer spending on foreign products. Overall, Belarus incurred a -$4 billion trade deficit during 2016.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$2.5 billion (Down by -24.4% since 2009)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.3 billion (Down by -37.2%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1 billion (Up by 37.2%)
- Fruits, nuts: -$948.9 million (Up by 514.8%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$442.3 million (Down by -3.8%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$424.1 million (Down by -5.1%)
- Iron, steel: -$422.4 million (Down by -15.4%)
- Organic chemicals: -$328.4 million (Up by 124.1%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: -$315.1 million (Up by 4.8%)
- Paper, paper items: -$263.2 million (Up by 6.7%)
Belarus has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the mineral fuels including oil category, especially crude oil and petroleum gases.
These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Belarusian competitive disadvantages in the international machinery market, but also represent key opportunities for Belarus to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations.
Belarusian Export Companies
Given that Belarus is an emerging economy, it should come as no surprise that no Belarusian corporation appears on the Forbes Global 2000 for 2015.
Wikipedia does list Belarusian export companies. Selected examples are shown below:
- JSC Defense Systems (air defense manufacturer)
- Minsk Automobile Plant (automobiles)
- Olivaria (brewery)
- TransAVIAexport Airlines (cargo airline)
- Belkamunmash (electric public transport vehicles)
- BelAZ (haulage, earth-moving equipment)
- Velcom (mobile phones)
- Minsk Motorcycle (motorcycles)
- Beltransgaz (natural gas)
- Belshina (pneumatic tires)
- Byelorussian Steel Works (steel)
- Minsk Tractor Works (tractors)