A little over a century ago, the region was always a net exporter o f goods and services to the outside world. Today, it is a net importer of most of what it consumes. This should pose an important question mark for the leaders of the region. How has the region changed from a net exporter of goods and services to a net importer in just over a century? It is not an easy issue to address in a short article such as this represents but one should note that the Horn of Africa States region needs to work hard.
The trend we see is not comfortable and especially when we know that the region could do much better than it currently does. This is a severe drain of the meagre resources it receives through its exports and from its migrant populations outside the region. The aid and grants which is received from some helping hands cannot and will not sustain the growing population of the region. They usually take them back, these helping hands, whatever they provided through different channels including employment of their own personnel at the expense of local qualified people.
As Macrotrends, a premier research platform for long term investors reports, the region continues to import more than it exports. As of 2023, the region imported some US$ 40 billion (2022: US$ 38 billion) while it exported only half of that at about US$ 20 billion (2022: US$ 18 billion).
The following are compilation tables by the author of the data Macrotrends has given........