AU Trade Profile: Overview 2000-2024
Note: This fact sheet was prepared in January 2026. However, the most recent data presented in this section are from 2024, which is the most recent year for which the World Integrated Trade Solution has published trade statistics.
Graph 1: Trinidad-AU Trade 2000-2024
- For the period 2000–2024, Trinidad’s import-export balance in its trade with the AU exhibits a clear structural transition. In the early years (2000–2016), Trinidad consistently imported significantly more than it exported, with particularly large deficits between 2005 and 2014 as imports peaked while exports remained comparatively low. This imbalance began to narrow in 2017, and by 2018, a decisive shift occurred, with exports surpassing imports for the first time. From 2019 onwards, the trade relationship became strongly export-dominant, with exports vastly exceeding imports—most notably in 2022, where export values reached their peak. Although exports moderated after 2022, Trinidad maintained a substantial trade surplus through to 2024. Pointers to the reasons for this structural shift can be found in Time Series Graph 2 below.
Graph 2: Trinidad and Tobago’s Imports from African Union Member States by Country, 2000–2024 (Trade Value in US$ Thousands)
- Graph 2 illustrates Trinidad and Tobago’s imports from African Union (AU) member states over the period 2000–2024, disaggregated by country and measured in thousands of US dollars. The data reveal a highly concentrated import structure, with Gabon accounting for the overwhelming majority of imports during the period 2000–2014. Imports from Gabon rise sharply over this period, peaking in 2014, while imports from most other AU countries remain comparatively negligible or intermittent.
- From 2015 onwards, a marked shift occurs. Imports from Gabon decline precipitously and become virtually non-existent by 2019. While smaller import flows from countries such as South Africa, Morocco, and Egypt persist, these remain relatively low in value and do not compensate for the collapse of Gabonese imports. As a result, total imports from the AU contract significantly in the latter period, reflecting a transition from a highly concentrated to a diminished and more diffuse import profile.