Botswana’s trade deficit widened to BWP 2411.6 million in August of 2018 from BWP 714.4 million in the same month a year earlier. It was the largest trade gap since October of 2016, as exports dropped 30.8 percent year-on-year to BWP 2562.8 million, mainly due to lower sales of diamonds (-39.4 percent). The most important export partners were: India (30.7 percent of total exports), Belgium (15.6 percent), South Africa (13 percent), United Arab Emirates (9.9 percent) and Hong Kong (9 percent). Meantime, imports increased 12.6 percent to BWP 4974.4 million, mostly driven by higher purchases of diamonds (94 percent) and vehicles and transport equipment (80 percent). Main import partners were: South Africa (63.8 percent of total imports), Canada (15 percent), India (4.6 percent), Belgium (1.9 percent) and China (1.7 percent). Balance of Trade in Botswana averaged -123.15 BWP Million from 2005 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 4102.21 BWP Million in March of 2007 and a record low of -6683 BWP Million in July of 2012.
Balance of Trade in Botswana is expected to be 239.43 BWP Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Balance of Trade in Botswana to stand at 420.15 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Botswana Balance of Trade is projected to trend around 622.25 BWP Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.