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Madagascar Foreign Trade
As of 1992, 81.1 percent (US$311 million) of
Madagascar's
total exports of US$383.5 million were to the
industrialized
West. Four countries served as the primary destination of
Malagasy goods: France (30.4 percent), the United States
(13.3
percent), Germany (10.1 percent) and Japan (7.5 percent)
(see
table 6, Appendix). In contrast, only 51 percent (US$313.2
million) of Madagascar's total imports of US$614.1 million
in
1992 came from the industrialized West (a sharp decline
from 78.7
percent in 1980), and only France remained a significant
partner
(providing 29.9 of Madagascar's imports). Whereas Japan
and
Germany were responsible for 4.3 and 3.9 percent of
Madagascar's
imports, respectively, the United States contributed a
meager 1.1
percent. Russia remains marginal in terms of both imports
and
exports (less than 1 percent), and, along with the other
former
communist countries, has never constituted a major trading
partner of Madagascar. In aggregate terms, Madagascar's
exports
to the industrialized West dropped slightly from US$316
million
in 1980 to US$311 million in 1992.
Two trends in trade with the developing world stand
out.
First, Madagascar slightly increased the percentage of
goods
exported to other southern countries from 14.3 percent in
1980 to
18.8 percent in 1992. Other African countries were the
major
market for Malagasy goods (11.0 percent) in 1992, Asia
came in
second (7.1 percent), and the Middle East and Latin
America
together imported only 0.5 percent. In aggregate terms,
Madagascar's exports to the developing south expanded from
US$57.5 million in 1980 to US$72.3 million in 1992.
A second, more noticeable shift occurred in terms of
Madagascar's imports from other southern countries,
increasing
from US$55 million in 1980 to US$301 million in 1992. In
sharp
contrast to regional patterns related to exports,
Madagascar
imported the majority of its goods from Asia (15.5
percent) and
the Middle East (8.5 percent). Other African countries
were the
source of only 6.1 percent of Madagascar's imports, and
Latin
America registered the negligible total of 2.1 percent. A
burgeoning trade deficit that exceeded US$230 million in
1992
remains one of the biggest trade problems confronting
Malagasy
policy makers.
Data as of August 1994
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