Luanda, June 20, 2025 (Lusa) — Trade relations between the United States and Angola grew significantly in 2024, driven mainly by oil exports, but the first few months of this year indicate a reversal of this trend.
According to data from the economic portal Trading Economics and the Office of the US Trade Representative, in 2023 the United States imported goods worth around US$1.16 billion (approximately €1.067 billion) from Angola, while US exports to the Angolan market totalled close to US$599 million (approximately €551 million).
In total, trade reached around US$1.759 billion (approximately €1.619 billion) that year.
In 2024, trade between the two countries accelerated again, with the United States importing US$1.91 billion (about €1.757 billion) from Angola - mainly oil, representing an increase of almost 65%.
Angola purchased goods worth around US$682 million (approximately €628 million) from the US, an increase of 14%, bringing the volume of trade to close to US$2.592 billion (around €2.385 billion).
After this favourable development last year, data from early 2025 reveal a significant drop, at a time when Luanda is hosting the 17th US-Africa Business Summit, the most important business forum between the United States and the African continent, which begins on Sunday.
Between January and April, the United States imported Angolan products worth around US$197 million (about €181 million), and in April imports did not exceed US$25.5 million (about €23.5 million), a figure that represents a reduction of 88% compared to the same month last year.
Angola imported US$ 482 million worth of US products during the same period (€ 443 million).
According to the Economic Complexity Observatory (OEC), oil remained Angola’s main export to the United States, accounting for US$13.7 million (about €12.6 million) of total exports in April this year, while diamonds totalled US$10.3 million (about €9.5 million).
On the US side, exports to Angola consisted of aircraft parts worth US$39.5 million (about €36.3 million), poultry meat (US$9.33 million or €8.6 million) and refined petroleum products (US$4.73 million, about €4.3 million).
Angola benefits from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) programme, which guarantees tariff exemptions for more than 6,000 products, but in April US President Donald Trump announced tariff increases for virtually all US trading partners.
However, the measure is not expected to directly affect Angola, as more than 90% of Angolan exports to the United States continue to be oil, which is exempt from additional tariffs.
Luanda will host the 17th edition of the US-Africa Business Summit from June 22–25, with more than 1,500 participants expected, including heads of state, prime ministers, African ministers and senior government officials.
The event is co-organised by the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) and the Government of the Republic of Angola.
Participants will address the development of trade, investment and economic partnerships in sectors such as energy, infrastructure, health, digital technologies, agribusiness, creative industries and critical minerals.
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