Senegalese exports fell by 23.2% in April 2026 compared to the previous month, due to a combined decline in sales of crude oil, phosphoric acid, gold, and liquefied natural gas, the Monthly Bulletin of Foreign Trade Statistics published on June 16 by the National Agency for Statistics and Demography (ANSD), has said.
According to ANSD data, Senegal’s exports in April 2026 totalled 547.7 billion CFA francs, compared to 713.4 billion CFA francs in March, representing a contraction of 23.2%.
This decline is primarily due to lower sales of crude oil (138.5 billion FCFA compared to 227.5 billion FCFA), phosphoric acid (16.0 billion
FCFA compared to 55.3 billion FCFA), non-monetary gold (144.3 billion FCFA compared to 162.9 billion FCFA), and liquefied natural gas (21.1 billion FCFA compared to 30.7 billion FCFA).
On Year-on-year, however, the trend remains upward, with exports increased by 16.6% compared to April 2025. In the first four months of 2026, the exports reached 2,126.8 billion FCFA compared to 1,856.0 billion FCFA a year earlier, representing an increase of 14.6%.
On the import side, the ANSD noted a monthly increase of 3.1%, reaching 546.1 billion FCFA compared to 529.6 billion in March 2026.
This growth was driven by purchases of refined petroleum products, machinery and equipment, as well as animal and vegetable oils and fats and maize. However, the decline in rice and fertilizer imports limited the increase.
On year-on-year, imports contracted by 11.9%. Their cumulative total at the end of April 2026 reached 2,113.8 billion FCFA, compared to 2,466.4 billion a year earlier, representing a decrease of 14.3%.
The trade balance deteriorated sharply in April 2026, showing a slight surplus of 1.5 billion FCFA compared to +183.8 billion in March. This trend is mainly due to the deterioration in trade with the Netherlands and Turkey, as well as the widening deficits with China and the United States. However, some improvements were noted with Italy, Mali,
Germany and Nigeria.
AC/Sf/fss/gik/APA