Foreign Trade
Balance of Trade
The Statistics Department produces monthly, quarterly and annual Trade reports of imports and exports value (CIF-imported items and FOB on exported items) by Harmonized System (HS) Section and Commodity groups, Institutional sectors, Trading Partners and duty value.
INTERNATIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE STATISTICS, ANNUAL 2014
For the year 2014, Tonga recorded a trade deficit of 369.1 million pa'anga. This was a 14.7% increase from 2013's deficit of 321.7 million pa'anga. Total imports for 2014 was 404.1 million pa'anga. Total imports for 2014 was 404.1 million pa'anga, whereas Total exports was only 35.0 million pa'anga. Of the Total exports, Domestic export was 28.2 million and Re-export was 6.8 million.
Compared to 2013, Total imports has increased by 14.9% whilst Total exports also increased by 16.9%. The increase in Exports was driven by an increase in Domestic expors of 6.4 million pa'anga (29.3%).
INTERNATIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE-SUMMARY
in thousand Tongan Pa'anga (T$'000)
Years | Imports | Exports | Re-exports | Balance of Trade | Exports as a % of Imports |
2011 | 332,210 | 24,661 | 2,570 | (304,979) | 7.4 |
2012 | 342,742 | 23,799 | 2,959 | (315,985) | 6.9 |
2013 | 351,628 | 21,829 | 8,600* | (321,198) | 6.2 |
2014 | |||||
4th Qtr | |||||
3rd Qtr | |||||
2ndQtr | 88,984 | 4,515 | 1,711 | (82,758) | 5.1 |
1stQtr | 82,495 | 5,341 | 1,119 | (77,155) | 6.5 |
2013 | 351,628 | 21,829 | 8,600* | (321,198) | 6.2 |
4thQtr | 104,694 | 8,259 | 539 | (95,896) | 7.9 |
3rdQtr | 85,466 | 4,737 | 2,185 | (78,544) | 5.5 |
2ndQtr | 87,795 | 4,570 | 253 | (82,972) | 5.2 |
1stQtr | 73,673 | 4,263 | 246 | (69,164) | 5.8 |
Note: * Fuel sold to visiting ships and aircraft are included from January 2013 as re-exports |
Source: Foreign Trade Report, Statistics Department.
Note: * Fuel sold to visiting ships and aircraft are included from January 2013 as re-exports, thus all the quarterly re-exports figures that has been released for 2013 are revised in this annual report.
Contact person: Mrs 'Ana T. Kama
Major Trading Partners
View both Imports and Exports by Major Trading Partners table here.
IMPORT BY MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS
Year | Total | Australia | New Zealand | United States | China | Japan | Singapore | Fiji | Other |
2013 | 351,628 | 19,890 | 99,415 | 39,318 | 19,090 | 12,644 | 91,164 | 30,061 | 40,046 |
2012 | 342,742 | 17,717 | 102,672 | 44,314 | 21,762 | 19,883 | 78,705 | 27,443 | 30,246 |
2011 | 332,210 | 21,739 | 100,477 | 30,544 | 22,333 | 16,472 | 74,277 | 29,418 | 27,654 |
2014 | |||||||||
2ndQtr | 88,983 | 4,054 | 28,191 | 10,047 | 6,612 | 3,817 | 18,294 | 7,280 | 10,688 |
1stQtr | 82,496 | 5,963 | 26,100 | 9,484 | 3,881 | 4,121 | 15,669 | 6,050 | 11,228 |
2013 | |||||||||
1stQtr | 73,673 | 4,352 | 21,887 | 7,486 | 3,353 | 2,392 | 18,835 | 5,365 | 10,003 |
2ndQtr | 87,795 | 4,993 | 24,478 | 11,727 | 5,807 | 2,689 | 23,383 | 6,769 | 7,949 |
3rd Qtr | 85,466 | 5,123 | 26,444 | 8,560 | 4,323 | 3,649 | 21,581 | 8,001 | 7,785 |
4thQtr | 104,694 | 5,422 | 26,606 | 11,545 | 5,607 | 3,914 | 27,365 | 9,926 | 14,309 |
2012 | |||||||||
1stQtr | 70,666 | 3,547 | 21,917 | 9,185 | 2,674 | 3,035 | 19,095 | 5,931 | 5,283 |
2ndQtr | 87,882 | 5,578 | 25,867 | 13,714 | 8,724 | 1,587 | 20,683 | 5,768 | 5,961 |
3rd Qtr | 86,580 | 4,061 | 28,166 | 9,861 | 4,197 | 5,324 | 20,293 | 8,307 | 6,371 |
4thQtr | 97,614 | 4,531 | 26,722 | 11,554 | 6,167 | 9,937 | 18,634 | 7,437 | 12,631 |
EXPORT BY MAJOR TRADING PARTNERS
Year | Total | Australia | New | USA | Japan | Hong Kong | Fiji | Other |
Zealand | ||||||||
2013 | 30,429 | 3,292 | 7,412 | 3,201 | 3,395 | 1,615 | 411 | 11,103 |
2012 | 23,799 | 3,185 | 5,638 | 3,581 | 3,389 | 3,466 | 231 | 4,309 |
2011 | 24,661 | 2,290 | 4,819 | 2,657 | 5,161 | 4,284 | 866 | 4,585 |
2014 | ||||||||
2nd Qtr | 4,515 | 500 | 1,791 | 766 | 466 | 344 | - | 648 |
1st Qtr | 4,223 | 588 | 1,183 | 812 | 623 | 584 | 135 | 298 |
2013 | ||||||||
1st Qtr | 5,389 | 278 | 1021 | 561 | 1,738 | 112 | 156 | 1523 |
2nd Qtr | 6,121 | 674 | 1,944 | 857 | 35 | 34 | 109 | 2468 |
3rd Qtr | 8,830 | 1747 | 2,541 | 867 | 37 | 490 | 133 | 3015 |
4th Qtr | 10,089 | 593 | 1,906 | 916 | 1585 | 979 | 13 | 4,097 |
2012 | ||||||||
1st Qtr | 6,259 | 2,243 | 567 | 737 | 2,316 | 12 | 22 | 362 |
2nd Qtr | 3,471 | 434 | 1,345 | 666 | 90 | 20 | 58 | 858 |
3rd Qtr | 4,995 | 332 | 1,441 | 966 | 232 | 1,261 | 77 | 686 |
4th Qtr | 9,074 | 176 | 2,285 | 1,212 | 751 | 2,173 | 74 | 2,403 |
Source: Foreign Trade Report, Statistics Department.
Contact person: Ms 'Ana T. Kama
Major Harmonized System (HS)
Both Import and Export by Major Harmonized System (HS) tables can be viewed here.
IMPORT BY MAJOR HS SECTIONS
in thousand Tongan Pa'anga (T$'000) | |||||||
Imports value, major items | 2012 | Quarter - 2013 | 2014 | ||||
1st Qtr | 2nd Qtr | 3rd Qtr | 4th Qtr | 1st Qtr | 2nd Qtr | ||
Food | 54,128 | 10,181 | 15,217 | 13,670 | 14,206 | 14,237 | 13,175 |
Oils & Fats | 1,797 | 716 | 674 | 242 | 554 | 193 | 375 |
Beverages / Tobacco | 44,028 | 9,685 | 12,263 | 12,374 | 15,345 | 10,707 | 12,375 |
Minerals & Fuels | 85,444 | 19,015 | 22,028 | 21,986 | 19,898 | 20,579 | 19,320 |
Crude materials | 106,401 | 6,249 | 6,118 | 5,921 | 7,841 | 7,712 | 6,352 |
Chemicals | 14,473 | 2,854 | 4,191 | 4,204 | 3,905 | 3,842 | 4,607 |
Basic Manufacturers | 30,460 | 5,405 | 5,388 | 6,529 | 7,283 | 6,801 | 7,895 |
Machinery & Transport equipment | 66,739 | 13,288 | 17,352 | 16,798 | 29,932 | 15,811 | 20,325 |
Miscellaneous Manufactured | 10,800 | 1,406 | 1,104 | 1,299 | 1,991 | 1,397 | 2,345 |
Other | 4,076 | 4873 | 3460 | 2,445 | 3740 | 1216 | 2,215 |
Total | 418,346 | 73,672 | 87,795 | 85,468 | 104,695 | 82,495 | 88,984 |
Goods Not Elsewhere Specified | 471 | 4,836 | 3,087 | 2,441 | 3,868 | 854 | 1,658 |
Capital equipment (BEC basis) | 25,484 | 5,385 | 4,221 | 4,610 | 5,433 | 4,700 | 8,585 |
EXPORT BY MAJOR HS SECTIONS
Exports value, major items | 2011 | 2012 | Quarter - 2013 | 2014 | ||||
1stQtr | 2ndQtr | 3rd Qtr | 4thQtr | 1stQtr | 2ndQtr | |||
Food | 21,079 | 18,750 | 3,702 | 3,712 | 3,927 | 7,553 | 3,577 | 3,744 |
Beverages / Tobacco | 213 | 469 | 135 | 158 | 34 | 14 | 189 | 224 |
Minerals & Fuels | - | 2 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Crude materials | 1,880 | 2,327 | 100 | 169 | 192 | 211 | 226 | 152 |
Chemicals | 508 | 395 | 105 | 106 | 266 | 140 | 42 | 148 |
Basic Manufacturers | 815 | 705 | 147 | 318 | 198 | 277 | 121 | 156 |
Machinery & Transport equipment | 74 | 256 | 14 | 66 | 78 | 43 | 38 | 31 |
Miscellaneous Manufactured | 18 | 60 | 23 | 40 | 40 | 20 | 29 | 2 |
Other | 75 | 833 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 58 |
Total | 24,662 | 23,797 | 4,261 | 4,570 | 4,735 | 8,258 | 4,222 | 4,515 |
Goods Not Elsewhere Specified | 74 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Capital equipment (BEC basis) | 46 | 71 | - | 3 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 5 |
Source: Foreign Trade Report, Statistics Department.
Contact person: Ms 'Ana T. Kama
Major Local
Major Local Exports Commodities in thousand Tongan Pa'anga (T$'000)
in thousand Tongan Pa'anga (T$'000) | |||||
Year | Fish, fresh or chilled | Vanilla | Kava Ground & Unground | Root Crops | Squash pumpkins |
2011 | 5,525 | 536 | 866 | 2,318 | 2,041 |
2012 | 3,612 | 49 | 2021 | 2,942 | 2,564 |
2013 | 2,931 | 492 | 1915 | 4,345 | 2,924 |
2012 | |||||
1stQtr | 2,690 | 1 | 289 | 477 | 0 |
2ndQtr | 327 | - | 530 | 1,066 | 207 |
3rdQtr | 335 | 38 | 562 | 857 | 195 |
4thQtr | 260 | 10 | 640 | 542 | 2,162 |
2013 | |||||
1stQtr | 1,842 | 0 | 318 | 521 | 0 |
2ndQtr | 371 | 0 | 357 | 1,714 | 0 |
3rdQtr | 205 | 368 | 786 | 1,380 | 114 |
4thQtr | 513 | 124 | 454 | 730 | 2,810 |
2014 | |||||
1stQtr | 1,027 | 0 | 384 | 810 | 0 |
2ndQtr | 661 | 0 | 535 | 1,462 | 0 |
Source: Foreign Trade Report, Statistics Department.
Contact person: Ms 'Ana T. Kama
Reports
INTERNATIONAL MERCHANDISE TRADE, ANNUAL 2014 REPORT
Statistics presented in this report cover all goods imported into and exported (including those re-exported) from the Kingdom under Customs Act No.25 of 1999 on Private, Government and Quasi-government accounts during the stated period.
Trade Reports


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