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Ethiopia Exports
Ethiopia's exports in EFY l988/89 were primarily
agricultural products (see table 14,
Appendix). The
only
significant nonagricultural exports were petroleum products
such as heating oil, which had no use in Ethiopia, from the
Aseb refinery.
The value of exports increased during the l980s, and by EFY
l988/89 exports had almost twice the value they had in l973.
However, the composition of exports had remained essentially
the same, although the relative share of the various
agricultural exports had changed. Coffee, the major export,
still averaged about 63 percent of the value of exports
during the five years ending in EFY l988/89. The relative
share of oilseeds and pulses, however, had changed
dramatically. Pulses and oilseeds, which accounted for about
l5 percent and l9 percent, respectively, of the total value
of exports in EFY 1974/75, dropped to l.9 and l.4 percent,
respectively, of the total value of exports in EFY l988/89.
Droughts, famines, the peasants' preference for cereals and
other staples, and the rising cost of producing pulses and
oilseeds accounted for the decline in the export of these
two products. Exports of livestock and livestock products
averaged l8 percent of the value of exports for the five
years ending in EFY l988/89, which was slightly higher than
the prerevolution share of 16 percent.
After the l974 revolution, exports' relative share of GDP
declined, largely because domestic production grew more
slowly than total demand. This could be attributed to the
agricultural crisis associated with the country's recurring
droughts and famines and the dislocation of the farm economy
resulting from the revolution. Total domestic production,
measured by GDP, grew at an average annual rate of 0.9
percent per year during the 1980-87 period while exports
declined at an average annual rate of 0.6 percent. During
the same period, the population grew at an average 2.4
percent annual rate. Consequently, Ethiopia's export share
of 8 percent of GDP in EFY l988/89 was one of the world's
lowest.
The direction of Ethiopia's post-1974 exports remained
essentially the same as in the prerevolution period, despite
the government's change of policy and realignment with the
Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. About 79 percent of
Ethiopia's exports went to Western countries, primarily the
United States, the Federal Republic of Germany (West
Germany), and Japan. Ethiopia's export trade with the Soviet
Union, one of its major allies, was less than 4 percent in
the five years ending in l987; prior to l974, the Soviet
Union had accounted for less than 1 percent of Ethiopia's
imports. Beginning in 1979, Addis Ababa sought to encourage
exports to the Soviet Union and other socialist countries by
encouraging barter and countertrade. Ethiopia used this
technique to market products such as spices, natural gums,
some pulses, frozen meats, and handicraft items, which are
not reliable hard-currency earners. In exchange, Ethiopia
usually received consumer goods, industrial machinery, or
construction machinery. Although reliable figures on the
volume of barter and countertrade were unavailable, it
appeared unlikely that the figure exceeded US$50 to US$55
million in any year.
Data as of 1991
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