ANGOLA · TRADE
Key Facts
- The country Angola is a southwestern African oil exporter whose oil, fuels and gas are about 96% of goods exports.
- Why it matters The US is a small but volatile buyer, and the two countries’ trade figures do not match.
- What happened Angola’s September exports to the US reached US$143 million, up from US$12 million a year earlier.
- What it means for you US data show purchases from Angola down 24% in January to August, so treat the jump with care.
- Still open Whether September’s jump reflects a few crude cargoes or a lasting shift is not known.
Angola sold US$143 million of goods to the United States in September 2026, more than 11 times the US$12 million of September 2025, according to the country’s statistics institute. On the same count, US sales to Angola moved the other way, falling 41% from a year earlier to US$52 million.
The National Institute of Statistics (INE) published the figures on Monday 26 October in its monthly foreign trade release, which draws on data from the tax administration and the mineral resources and petroleum ministry. Conversions here use the National Bank of Angola reference rate of 913 kwanzas per US$ on Thursday 29 October, applied to every month.
For US readers the numbers matter because the United States is a small buyer of Angolan goods, ranking fifth among export destinations in September with 3.34% of the total. Official US statistics tell a different story, with US imports from Angola in the first eight months of 2026 down 24% from a year earlier.
In Plain English
INE is Angola’s official statistics agency, and the trade balance is the value of exports minus the value of imports, so a surplus means the country sold more than it bought. The kwanza is Angola’s currency, which the central bank converts into dollars at a published reference rate.
The US Census Bureau publishes the American side of the trade, counting goods by country of origin and destination. Each country applies its own rules on origin, destination and timing, so the two sets of numbers rarely match month by month.
What the Statistics Office Found
Goods exports in September came to 3.90 trillion kwanzas (US$4.28 billion), up 67.86% from a year earlier and 51.08% from August. Imports reached 1.85 trillion kwanzas (US$2.03 billion), up 33.14% on the year.
The trade surplus widened to 2.05 trillion kwanzas (US$2.25 billion), more than double the 936.6 billion kwanzas (US$1.03 billion) of September 2025 and 72.02% above August. INE puts the main driver down to the average price of crude oil, the country’s main export.
Oil, fuels and gas made up 95.56% of exports, followed by precious stones and metals at 1.73% and base metals at 1.12%. On the import side, refined fuels were 34.17% of purchases, ahead of machinery at 19.68% and vehicles at 10.02%.
Who Buys Angola’s Goods
China took 35.80% of exports, worth about US$1.53 billion, and India took 32.43%, about US$1.39 billion, together more than two thirds of the total. India’s purchases rose more than six-fold from a year earlier, while China’s were little changed, a pattern that fits the Asian lead among buyers of Angolan crude.
Italy took 5.95%, Spain 4.32% and the United States 3.34%, which put the US fifth among destinations. On imports, China supplied 21.10%, then Taiwan 9.08%, South Korea 8.79%, Togo 7.30% and Portugal 6.65%, with the US tenth at 2.55%.
The US Figures in Context
Angola’s exports to the US were US$12 million in September 2025, US$32 million in August 2026 and US$143 million in September 2026, so the jump comes from a low and uneven base. The release does not say which products or cargoes lie behind the US number.
US Census Bureau data show US imports from Angola of US$501 million in January to August 2026, down 24% from US$663 million a year earlier. For the full years, US imports from Angola fell from US$1.87 billion in 2024 to US$871 million in 2025.
US exports to Angola were US$528 million in January to August 2026, down 23% from US$685 million a year earlier, after reaching US$1.18 billion in 2025. The two countries’ figures do not match month by month, and the US count for September 2025 was US$79 million of imports from Angola against Angola’s US$12 million of exports to the US.
What It Means for You
US refiners and traders that buy Angolan crude should read the September number as a single month, since Angola’s own series shows US purchases swinging from US$32 million in August to US$143 million in September. Investors tracking Angola’s external accounts can note that the trade surplus more than doubled on the oil price, a sensitivity that the gap between Brent and Angola’s budget price also shows.
US exporters of machinery, vehicles and chemicals face stiff competition, because China, Taiwan and South Korea supply far more of Angola’s imports than the US does. The US share of Angolan imports was 2.55% in September, down from about 5.7% a year earlier.
What Is Not Known
It is not known whether September’s jump in sales to the US came from a few large crude cargoes or from a broader shift, because the release gives no product detail by country. Nor is it clear why Angola’s count and the US count differ so widely for the same months.
The US Census Bureau had not yet published its September data on Friday 30 October, so the US side of the comparison stops at August. Whether the surplus holds depends on crude prices, a theme that runs through the wider Angola coverage.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Angola export to the United States?
Angola’s statistics institute puts September 2026 exports to the US at about US$143 million, or 3.34% of its goods exports. That is up from about US$12 million in September 2025.
Is the US a big trading partner for Angola?
Not by Angola’s count, which ranks the US fifth for exports at 3.34% and tenth for imports at 2.55% in September. China and India together took more than two thirds of exports.
What is Angola’s trade surplus?
Angola’s September 2026 goods surplus was 2.05 trillion kwanzas, about US$2.25 billion at the central bank rate of 913 on 29 October. The statistics institute links the rise to higher average crude prices.
Do US and Angolan trade figures agree?
They differ widely, because each country applies its own rules on origin, destination and timing. For September 2025, US Census data show US$79 million of imports from Angola, against US$12 million of exports to the US in Angola’s count.
Sources: Angola National Institute of Statistics, Foreign Trade Statistics, September 2026, published 26 October 2026; Angola National Institute of Statistics, publication page, 26 October 2026; US Census Bureau, trade in goods with Angola, data to August 2026; National Bank of Angola, reference exchange rate, 29 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief