emirates7 - The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has highlighted that the global effort to reduce commodity dependence remains far from complete. Commodity dependence refers to a situation where over 60% of a country’s earnings from merchandise exports come from commodities.
These commodities generally fall into three main categories: energy, mining, and agriculture. This includes essential items like wheat and coffee, as well as crucial industrial materials like copper and lithium, which are integral to modern life.
However, heavy reliance on these raw materials—an issue of long-standing global concern—poses significant challenges to industrial progress and can destabilize national finances, especially when international prices fluctuate sharply.
UNCTAD warns that commodity dependence is particularly widespread in structurally vulnerable and economically fragile countries. Over 80% of the world’s least developed nations and landlocked developing countries, along with around 60% of small island developing states, are affected by this issue.
The problem is widespread in the developing world, with about two-thirds (95 out of 143) of developing countries remaining dependent on commodity exports between 2021 and 2023, as outlined in UNCTAD’s latest State of Commodity Dependence report published on 21 July.
This dependence is especially acute in Middle and Western Africa, where many countries rely on commodities for more than 80% of their export revenues. Similar trends are also evident in Central Asia and South America, where natural resource wealth forms the backbone of trade.
The report stresses that unless countries take more decisive steps to diversify their economies and boost value-added production, they risk missing the chance to turn natural resource wealth into engines for sustainable, long-term development.
Globally, commodities still form a substantial part of trade, accounting for 32.7% of the value of international trade from 2021 to 2023—slightly down from 35.5% a decade earlier.
During that same timeframe, global trade in goods increased by 25.6%, whereas trade in commodities grew more slowly, rising by only 15.5%. This suggests that countries focused mainly on raw materials are falling behind in benefiting from the more dynamic aspects of global trade, which increasingly reward diversification, innovation, and value-added products.
The report also notes that energy products continued to dominate commodity trade, representing 44.5% of its value between 2021 and 2023. However, this was down from 52.1% ten years ago, due in part to lower oil prices and shifts in energy demand driven by the transition to renewables.
Meanwhile, agricultural exports rose by 34% to $2.3 trillion—mainly driven by food products. Mining commodities, including ores and metals, saw a 33.4% increase in value, averaging $1.65 trillion per year during the same period.
These commodities generally fall into three main categories: energy, mining, and agriculture. This includes essential items like wheat and coffee, as well as crucial industrial materials like copper and lithium, which are integral to modern life.
However, heavy reliance on these raw materials—an issue of long-standing global concern—poses significant challenges to industrial progress and can destabilize national finances, especially when international prices fluctuate sharply.
UNCTAD warns that commodity dependence is particularly widespread in structurally vulnerable and economically fragile countries. Over 80% of the world’s least developed nations and landlocked developing countries, along with around 60% of small island developing states, are affected by this issue.
The problem is widespread in the developing world, with about two-thirds (95 out of 143) of developing countries remaining dependent on commodity exports between 2021 and 2023, as outlined in UNCTAD’s latest State of Commodity Dependence report published on 21 July.
This dependence is especially acute in Middle and Western Africa, where many countries rely on commodities for more than 80% of their export revenues. Similar trends are also evident in Central Asia and South America, where natural resource wealth forms the backbone of trade.
The report stresses that unless countries take more decisive steps to diversify their economies and boost value-added production, they risk missing the chance to turn natural resource wealth into engines for sustainable, long-term development.
Globally, commodities still form a substantial part of trade, accounting for 32.7% of the value of international trade from 2021 to 2023—slightly down from 35.5% a decade earlier.
During that same timeframe, global trade in goods increased by 25.6%, whereas trade in commodities grew more slowly, rising by only 15.5%. This suggests that countries focused mainly on raw materials are falling behind in benefiting from the more dynamic aspects of global trade, which increasingly reward diversification, innovation, and value-added products.
The report also notes that energy products continued to dominate commodity trade, representing 44.5% of its value between 2021 and 2023. However, this was down from 52.1% ten years ago, due in part to lower oil prices and shifts in energy demand driven by the transition to renewables.
Meanwhile, agricultural exports rose by 34% to $2.3 trillion—mainly driven by food products. Mining commodities, including ores and metals, saw a 33.4% increase in value, averaging $1.65 trillion per year during the same period.