Courtesy of Pixabay

A landlocked country in northwest Africa, Burkina Faso shipped US$11.1 billion worth of exported products around the world in 2025.

That dollar amount reflects a 118.7% acceleration from $5.1 billion in 2021.

Year over year, overall sales of Burkina Faso’s exported goods almost doubled via 96.2% advance compared to $5.64 billion during 2024.

Based on the average exchange rate for 2025, Burkina Faso uses the West African CFA franc which appreciated by 4.4% against the US dollar since 2021 but declined by -4.5% from 2024 to 2025. Burkina Faso’s weaker local currency compared to 2024 makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers starting with American currency.

Burkina Faso’s biggest 3 exports by value are the product subcategories unwrought gold, cashew nuts and coconuts then uncarded and uncombed cotton. Collectively, those items accounted for 95.3% of the overall revenues from all of the country’s exports in 2025. Such a high percentage illustrates Burkina Faso’s intensely concentrated portfolio of exported goods.

The latest available country-specific data shows that 98.4% of products exported from Burkina Faso was bought by importers in: United Arab Emirates (52.2% of the country’s total), Switzerland (38.4%), India (1.8%), Ghana (1.5%), Togo (1.2%), Mali (0.82%), Ivory Coast (0.74%), Singapore (0.62%), France (0.39%), Netherlands (0.31%), South Africa (0.27%) and Germany (0.21%).

From a continental perspective, 54.9% of Burkina Faso’s exports by value was delivered to Asian countries while 39.7% was sold to importers in Europe.

Burkina Faso shipped another 5.2% worth of goods to buyers in fellow African nations.

Tinier percentages went to customers in North America (0.2%), Oceania’s Australia only (0.01%) then Latin America (0.004%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean.

Given Burkina Faso’s population of 24.5 million people, its total US$11.1 billion in 2025 exports translates to roughly $450 for every resident in the northwest African country. That dollar metric eclipses the average $240 per capita one year earlier in 2024.

Burkina Faso’s top 10 export product categories generated 98.9% of the overall value of its global shipments.

Gems and precious metals represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 117.9% from 2024 to 2025.

In second place for improving export sales were fruit and nuts: via a 99.8% advance led by cashews and coconuts.

Burkina Faso’s shipments of animal or vegetable fats, oils and waxes posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 90.3%.

The leading decliner among Burkina Faso’s top 10 export categories was the salt, sulphur, stone and cement group thanks to a -54.6% year-over-year drop.

Drilling down to 4-digit HTS codes, Burkina Faso’s most valuable exported goods include unwrought gold (91.5% of the country’s global total). In second place were cashew nuts and coconuts (2.2%), uncarded and uncombed cotton (1.5%), oil seeds (0.9%), fixed vegetable fats and oils (0.6%), dates, pineapples, mangoes, avocadoes and guavas (0.5%), processed petroleum oils (0.4%), hydraulic cements (0.3%), trucks (0.2%) then heavy machinery such as bulldozers, excavators and road rollers (also 0.2%).

Burkina Faso recorded an overall US$3.7 billion trade surplus for 2025, reversing a -$792.1 million deficit for one year earlier in 2024.

The following types of Burkinabe 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 represent 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.

Not one Burkinabe corporation ranks on the Forbes Global 2000 list.

Wikipedia lists companies located in Burkina Faso. Selected examples are shown below.

 
In macroeconomic terms, Burkina Faso’s total exported goods represent 15.2% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2025 ($72.8 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 15.2% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2025 compares to 8.3% for 2024. Those percentages suggest a relatively increasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Burkina Faso’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.

An key indicator of economic performance is the country’s unemployment rate. Burkina Faso’s unemployment rate averaged 3.5% for 2025, higher than its 3.4% jobless rate for 2024 according to Trading Economics metrics.

Burkina Faso’s capital city is Ouagadougou.

See also OPEC Countries Crude Oil Exports Sales Data, Report Card for Trade Surpluses and Deficits by Country and Top Cork Exporting Countries

Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Africa: Burkina Faso. Accessed on October 8, 2026

EXCHANGE-RATES.org CFA BCEAO Franc (XOF) To US Dollar (USD), Exchange Rate History. Accessed on October 8, 2026

Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on October 8, 2026

International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on October 8, 2026

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on October 8, 2026

International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on October 8, 2026

Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on October 8, 2026

Wikipedia, Burkina Faso. Accessed on October 8, 2026

Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on October 8, 2026

Wikipedia, List of Companies of Burkina Faso. Accessed on October 8, 2026

Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on October 8, 2026