South Africa’s top export market for agricultural products between January and November 2024 was the Netherlands, according to official statistics.Over the 11 months – the latest available figures at the time of writing – South Africa exported R27.6 billion worth of agriculture-related products to the Netherlands.Over 80% of the value was vegetables (R22bn), followed by prepared foodstuffs (R4bn).The three next-largest markets were neighbours Zimbabwe (R22bn), Namibia (R22bn) and Botswana (R21bn) – slightly ahead of China’s R20bn.This includes textiles and footwear. Zimbabwe imported R11bn worth of vegetables, followed by R6bn in prepared foodstuffs.Prepared foodstuffs were on the top of the shopping list for the other two neighbours, at R9bn for Namibia, and R8bn for Botswana. Second on their list was vegetables, at R3bn for Namibia and R5bn for Botswana, despite a ban on the import of certain vegetables imposed by both governments.Vegetables topped the list of South African exports for the period, valued at R128bn, followed by prepared foodstuffs (R80bn) and wood, pulp and paper (R32bn).China is the top supplier of agricultural products to South Africa, at R56bn when textiles and footwear are factored in and 16bn when they are excluded. In this category, Thailand is the second-largest supplier at R11bn, followed by Eswatini at R10bn.China’s top exports to South Africa are prepared foodstuffs (R5bn), wood pulp and paper (R4bn) and raw hides and leather (R3bn).South Africans imported R9bn worth of vegetables from Thailand, topped up with R2bn worth of prepared foodstuffs and R137 million in wood products.Kitchens in Eswatini were kept busy to supply R7bn worth of prepared foodstuffs, followed by R2bn in wood products and R425m in wood pulp and paper. The next-biggest edible was vegetables at R319m. Prepared foodstuffs topped the South African edibles shopping list, at imports worth R53bn, followed by vegetables at R41bn, live animals at R20bn and animal or vegetable fats at R14bn. Italy is the only trade partner which does not make the top 10 in both lists, dropping to 15th, and being replaced by Namibia at 10th. ER
