Ethiopia Posts a Record $10.7 Billion Year for Exports
ETHIOPIA · TRADE
Key Facts
—The record: Ethiopia earned more than $10.7 billion from exports in the 2025/26 fiscal year, the highest in its history and 114 percent of the government’s target.
—The jump: Earnings rose from $8.3 billion the previous year — an increase of roughly 29 percent.
—Coffee leads: Coffee brought in a record $3 billion, about 28 percent of the total, up from $2.65 billion a year earlier.
—The rest: Oilseeds, gold, horticulture and livestock products rounded out the biggest earners.
—What is next: Officials have paired the record with a five-year drive to lift coffee productivity.
Ethiopia exports have never earned more: the country booked a record $10.7 billion in the fiscal year just ended, beating its own target by 14 percent, with coffee alone delivering a record $3 billion.
A record year for Ethiopia exports
The trade ministry announced the milestone as the 2025/26 fiscal year closed in early July. Export revenue passed $10.7 billion, against $8.3 billion the year before — a rise of roughly 29 percent.
Hard-currency scarcity was so acute in recent years that importers queued for letters of credit. A record export haul is the other side of that story finally arriving.
The country did not just hit its target; it beat it by 14 percent. For an economy that spent recent years short of hard currency, the overshoot matters as much as the headline.
Officials presented the result as proof the reform programme is bearing fruit rather than a lucky harvest. Investors will read it alongside the record budget parliament passed the same week.
Coffee, the $3 billion crop
Coffee remains the export economy’s beating heart. The birthplace of arabica earned a record $3 billion from the bean, up from $2.65 billion a year earlier, and about 28 percent of all export revenue.
Global prices have helped: coffee has traded near historic highs through 2026, as The Rio Times has chronicled from the Brazilian side of the market. Ethiopia, Africa’s largest producer, is finally capturing more of that value.
Ethiopian coffee is overwhelmingly smallholder-grown, high-altitude arabica — the specialty end of the market. High prices flatter every origin, but quality origins capture the premium.
More of the crop is also moving through formal channels at world prices, rather than leaking across borders as contraband. That informal drain sapped official earnings for decades.
The government is not treating the price windfall as a strategy. Officials have launched a five-year productivity drive to lift yields and quality, aiming to grow volumes even if prices cool.
Beyond the bean
Oilseeds, gold, horticulture and livestock products filled out the top of the export table. Gold in particular has become a serious earner across East Africa as bullion prices climb.
Flowers and vegetables ride out of the country on Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest carrier, whose cargo network doubles as export infrastructure. Few African economies enjoy that logistical advantage.
The government is courting mining investment to lift gold beyond artisanal supply, while horticulture parks keep adding acreage. Diversification is slow, but the direction is visible.
The mix is still narrow by middle-income standards, and services like Ethiopian Airlines earn separately. But a $10.7 billion goods-export year gives the reform programme its clearest external win yet.
The reform dividend
The record lands two years after Ethiopia floated the birr under an IMF-backed programme, a move designed to make exports competitive and kill the black-market exchange rate. The figures reported by 2merkato from the ministry’s announcement suggest the medicine is working where it was aimed.
Hard currency is the binding constraint on Ethiopia’s ambitions, from fuel imports to industrial inputs. Every extra export dollar loosens that constraint a little.
The float was painful — import costs and inflation jumped — but it was designed for exactly this outcome. A dollar earned from coffee is now worth full value at home.
The IMF’s programme reviews have repeatedly flagged export performance as the test of the float. This year’s numbers hand the fund and the government a shared talking point.
Why it matters
Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most-populous country and, by the African Development Bank’s reckoning, among the world’s fastest-growing economies this year. A record export haul strengthens the case that its post-default turnaround is real.
Regional peers are watching closely. Kenya and Tanzania compete in coffee, tea and horticulture, and Ethiopia’s currency experiment is the boldest in the neighbourhood.
The harder test is repeating the feat without a price tailwind. The five-year productivity drive, aimed at yields rather than luck, is the government’s answer to that question.
Volume is the lever Ethiopia controls. Most of its coffee is still consumed at home, so every gain in yields can flow almost directly into exports.
For coffee drinkers, the story ends in the cup. More Ethiopian revenue means more investment in washing stations, quality grades and the smallholder farms behind the world’s most storied beans.
Frequently asked questions
How much did Ethiopia earn from exports in 2025/26?
More than $10.7 billion, the highest in the country’s history and 114 percent of the government’s target. The previous year brought in $8.3 billion.
How much of Ethiopia’s exports come from coffee?
Coffee earned a record $3 billion, roughly 28 percent of total export revenue, up from $2.65 billion the year before.
What else does Ethiopia export?
Oilseeds, gold, horticulture and livestock products were among the largest earners alongside coffee.
Why are Ethiopia exports rising?
High global coffee prices, the 2024 float of the birr under an IMF-backed reform programme and a push into gold and horticulture all contributed. Officials have added a five-year coffee productivity drive.
Connected Coverage
Ethiopia’s reform story is compounding: parliament just passed a record $14.6 billion budget financed almost entirely by taxes, the young stock exchange is close to its first market index, and the country is building Africa’s largest airport.
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