Cocoa: Movement
Why Ghana exports less than it grows
What this tab covers How it flows between countries: the largest bilateral trade routes drawn on a world map, 2024 UN Comtrade export and import values with the top exporters and importers by share, plus shipping routes, chokepoints and trade restrictions.UN Comtrade data for cocoa beans (HS 1801) show $15.3 billion of exports in 2024. Côte d'Ivoire supplied 26.1% by value, Ecuador 20.3%, Nigeria 10.7% and Ghana only 7.0%, below its 10.1% share of bean output. The Netherlands, a re-export hub, took 23.7% of imports and Malaysia 18.3%, followed by Germany (8.7%), the United States (6.3%) and Indonesia (6.1%). Radetzki & Wårell find the top five exporters held 66% of world cocoa exports in 2017. Tariff escalation favours grinding in importing regions; they cite chocolate tariffs of 12% to 32% in rich markets. The EU deforestation regulation will require plot-level traceability.
Main trade routes, 2024
Chart: World map of the largest trade flows
Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Largest bilateral flows (width = value) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, reported exports by the top four exporters of each traded form to their partners (US$). Bubbles: shares of reported world exports and imports for the main traded form. Hover a line or circle for values.