1. National Sustainable Development Plan Indicators (NSDP)

Total value of imports targeted by Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) as those that can be produced domestically is VT 22 million (ENV 1.3.1). The products imported included Potatoes (VT 12 million), Onions and Shallots (VT 6 million), and Carrots and Turnips (VT 3 million). (Refer to Table 16)

The total value of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) agreement is VT 497 million (ECO 1.5.2). This Trade-by-Trade agreement included total exports of VT 107 million and total imports of VT 390 million. (Refer to Table 11). The Balance of Trade by Major Partner Countries is (VT -3,947 million). (ECO 1.5.3). (Refer to Table 8)

Level of production of major commodities is VT 468 million (ECO 1.7.1). The major commodities included Beef (VT 10 million), Cocoa (VT 41 million), Coconut Oil (VT 20 million), Coffee (VT 2 million), and Kava (VT 395 million). The ratio of processed export commodities including coconut, kava, cocoa, and coffee to raw exports is 3 (ECO 4.3.2). Total value of processed exports is VT 356 million and total value of raw exports is VT 140 million. (Refer to Table 6)

2. Trade Balance by Major Partner Countries

Balance of trade by major partner countries is VT -3,947 million. The main countries that account for this Balance are Singapore (VT -1,627 million), Australia (VT -444 million), Fiji (VT -390 million), New Zealand (VT -389 million) and China (VT -245 million). These countries represent 78 per cent of the total Balance by Major Partner Countries (VT -3,095 million).

Major imports from Singapore were Mineral Products (VT 1,580 million); and Machinery & Electrical Appliances (VT 15 million). Major imports from Australia were Prepared Foodstuffs, Beverages, Alcohol, and Tobacco (VT 117 million) and Machinery & Electrical Appliances (VT 109 million. Major imports from Fiji were Prepared Foodstuffs, Beverages, Alcohol, and Tobacco (VT 232 million), and Chemical and allied products (VT 114 million). Major imports from New Zealand were Wood, Cork and Plaiting Materials (VT 70 million), and Machinery and Electrical Appliances (VT 64 million). Major imports from China were Machinery & Electrical Appliances (VT 59 million) and Vegetable Products (VT 54 million).

3. Trade Balance of Pacific Islands (excluding Melanesian Islands, Australia and  New Zealand)

Total Trade Balance of Pacific Islands excluding Melanesia, Australia and New Zealand is VT 232 million. This was driven by exports of Kava to Kiribati (VT 116 million), and Pharmaceuticals to Nauru less than a million and imports of Medicaments from French Polynesia (VT 5 million).

4. Trade by Trade Agreement- Melanesian Spearhead Group

The major imports from Fiji are Bread, Cakes, Pastry and Biscuits (VT 88 million), Prepared or Preserved Meat (VT 40 million), andWheat flour (VT 40 million). The major imports from Papua New Guinea is Prepared or Preserved Fish (VT 21 million), and from the Solomon Islands is also Prepared or Preserved Fish (VT 30 million).

The major export to Fiji is Kava (VT 91 million), to Papua New Guinea is Yeast (VT 2 million), and to Solomon Islands is Beef (VT 10 million).

5. Principle Exports

6. Top 5 New Major Exports

Total value of Scrap Metal VT 14 million, Car parts (tyres) VT 12 million, Personal Effects VT 9 million, Documents VT 7 million, and Armour (Machinery parts) VT 6 million.

7. Principle Imports

Total value of top five Principal imports is VT 1,976 million. The Principal Imports included Alcoholic Drinks (VT 96 million), Articles of Iron and Steel (VT 155 million), Medicaments (VT 41 million), Petroleum Oils (VT 1,608 million), and Rice (VT 76 million).

The main country of origin for Alcoholic Drinks is Australia (VT 48 million). The main country of origin for Articles of Iron and Steel is China (VT 32 million), and Medicaments is Australia (VT 10 million). The main country of origin for Petroleum Oils is Singapore (VT 1,579 million), and Rice is China (VT 51 million).

8. Top 5 New Major Imports

Total value of Vaccines VT 70 million, Conveyor system VT 28 million, Boat (Fishing) VT 19 million, Paint VT 14 million, and Crane Truck VT 11 million.

9. Imports of Dietary Risk Factors for Noncommunicable Diseases

Total value of Bakery Products is VT 109 million and are mainly imported from Fiji (VT 89 million). Total value of Confectionary is VT 31million and are mainly imported from France (VT 17 million). Total value of Cordial is VT 33 million and are mainly imported from Malaysia (VT 11 million). Total value of Noodles is VT 1 million and are mainly imported from New Zealand (VT 1 million).

10. Imports of food and products targeted as those that can be produced  domestically

Total value of Chicken is VT 54 million and are mainly imported from Australia (VT 25 million). Total value of Canned Tunas is VT 74 million and are mainly imported from Solomon Islands (VT 30 million). Total value of Canned Mackerel is VT 19 million and are mainly imported from Fiji (VT 15 million). Total value of Chicken Eggs VT 19 million and are mainly imported from Fiji (VT 17 million).

Table Downloads

Vanuatu IMTS Release Tables_April_2024.xlsx

Download the IMTS April 2024 Provisional Highlights (PDF)

The format content in these monthly provisional highlights is as below: 

1. National Sustainability Development Plan (NSDP Indicators: The NSDP serves as the Country’s highest level policy framework. The indicators provide a system to monitor progress. To report on trade related NSDP indicators, some adaptions has been made. This include ENV E.3.1 report value, not volume ECO 1.5.2 and ECO 1/6/2 reporting on Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) agreement, ECO 1.7.1 reporting on level of export production of major commodities.
2. Trade Balance of Major Partner Countries: Balance of Trade is the value of a country’s exports and the value of a country’s imports for a given period. The Major Partner Countries are: Australia, China, Fiji, France, Hongkong, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States of America.
3. Trade Balance of Pacific Islands, excluding Melanesian Islands, Australia and New Zealand: The Pacific Islands included are: American Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, French Polynesia, Tuvalu and Wallis and Futuna.
4. Trade by Trade Agreement - Melanesian Spearhead Group: The Melanesian Free Trade Agreement (MFTA) aims to achieve regional integration of economics in the MSG. It comprises four (4) Countries namely, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
5. Major Principal Exports: Major Exports are commodities that account for the majority of the total export value. The commodity group focus is Beef, Cocoa, Coconut Oil, Copra and Kava. Focus is a time series analysis of current monthly exports from 2018 to 2023.
6. Top 5 New Major Exports:  The traditional VNSO tables report on 13 major commodities. The rest of the commodities are grouped as “other products”. This investigates the main commodities within “other products”.
7. Major Principal Imports: Major imports are commodities that account for the majority of the total import value. The commodity group focus is Alcoholic drinks, Articles of Iron and Steel, Medicaments, Petroleum oils and /Rice. Focus is a timeseries analysis of current monthly imports from 2018-2023.
8. Top 5 New Major Imports:  The Traditional VNSO tables report on 47 major import commodities. The rest of the commodities are grouped as “other Imports”. This investigates the main commodities within “other imports”.
9. Imports of Dietary Risk Factors for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD):  The Pacific has a growing reputation as having one of the world’s highest NCD rates. These major NCD, is share for behavioural risk factors; tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol. This investigates some of the dietary risk factors including Bakery Products, Canned Meats, Confectionary, Cordial and Noodles.
10. Imports of Food and Products Targeted as those that can be Potentially Produced Domestically: Import substitution is the idea that; blocking imports of manufactured goods can help an economy by increasing the demand for domestically produced goods. The imports of foods and products targeted include: Canned Mackerel, Canned Tunas, Chicken and Chicken eggs.