As in previous years, South Africa remained the African country that bought and sold the most goods with Angola. Oil and food dominate trade.
The INE report does not specify which products Angola trades with African countries, but it does reveal the values of both imports and exports, as well as the countries of origin and destination of the goods.
Thus, South Africa is by far Angola’s largest trading partner on the continent, as of the 1.494 billion USD in Angolan sales to Africa last year, approximately 604 million went to Nelson Mandela’s country. DR Congo, with 334 million USD, and Togo, with 253 million USD, round out the top three African customers of Angola.
And while South Africa is the main buyer of Angolan goods on the continent, it also tops the list of Angola’s African suppliers. Of the 1.293 billion USD in purchases from the continent, 502 million were for products bought on the South African market, equivalent to 48% of Angola’s purchases from Africa. Togo, with 477 million USD, and Egypt, with 79 million USD, round out the top three African suppliers to the country.
Compared to 2024, sales of Angolan goods to South Africa fell by 5% last year, dropping from $529 million to $502 million. A decline was also recorded in South African goods sold to Angola, which fell by 27%, from $823 million to $604 million. Nevertheless, Nelson Mandela’s country remains Angola’s main trading partner on the African continent.
Within the SADC, South Africa was also Angola’s main trading partner last year. In this region, the Democratic Republic of the Congo was the second-largest buyer of goods from Angola, with $334.4 million, and Namibia ranked third among the top buyers from our country, with $63.9 million. As for Angola’s other customers in SADC, Mozambique was the second-largest buyer of goods from Angola, with 26.0 million USD, and Namibia ranked third with 25.7 million USD.
Over the years, Angola’s main imports from South Africa have included machinery, industrial equipment, agricultural products, processed foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and base metals. Conversely, Angola primarily exports oil and diamonds.
The decline in trade between Angola and other African countries in 2025 caused the trade balance between Angola and the rest of Africa to fall by 51% to $201 million, compared to 2024, when it stood at $398 million. Even so, in the post-COVID period, it was only in 2024 and 2025 that this trade balance was favorable to Angola.
Source: Expansão
