What Are Cuba’s Major Imports and Exports?
Cuba’s major imports are refined petroleum, packaged medicaments, wheat, corn and soybean meal, and the country’s top exports are nickel mattes, raw sugar, refined petroleum, packaged medicaments and rolled tobacco. Cuba also exports citrus, coffee and fish, as well as the services of its doctors and other health care personnel. Other top imports include machinery, equipment and chemicals.
Thirty-two percent of Cuba’s exported goods are sent to China. The other main recipients of Cuba’s exports are Venezuela, the Netherlands, Canada, Spain and Brazil. The top five countries that import to Cuba are Brazil, China, Venezuela, Algeria and the United States.
The Cuban economy is significantly dependent upon imported goods. More than 80 percent of the food consumed in Cuba is imported.
Cuba’s trade deficit with the majority of its trading partners is widening as the country increases the amount of goods imported without simultaneously increasing the amount of exports. This trade deficit is especially apparent with the United States, Cuba’s primary food supplier. The trade deficit between the two countries continues to grow, since a trade embargo by the U.S. government bans all Cuban exports to the United States and all U.S. exports to Cuba require a payment in cash.
