As a least-developed country (LDC), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a beneficiary of the EU's "Everything but Arms" (EBA) arrangement. The World Bank considers the DRC a low-income economy with a per-capita income of $628 in 2023. EU imports from the DRC amounted to about €1.7 billion in 2023. As most of the DRC's exports enter the EU duty-free under the EU's normal tariff regime, the scope for preferential imports is limited - these reached €2.0 million in 2023, substantially more than in 2021 and 2022.
The EBA arrangement covers all LDCs as classified by the United Nations. This arrangement enables duty-free and quota-free access for all products originating in LDCs except for arms and ammunition. Unlike beneficiaries of the Standard GSP and GSP+, LDCs are not excluded from the scheme if they benefit from other preferential arrangements or agreements with the EU.
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The Democratic Republic of Congo is considered the world’s richest country in terms of wealth in natural resources. Most of the raw mineral deposits remain untapped and are worth an estimated $24 trillion. These deposits include the world’s largest coltan reserves and considerable amounts of cobalt.
Congo's most important export products are refined and unrefined copper, cobalt, gold, and other ores. The most important agricultural export product are cocoa beans.
Congo's most important trading partner is China, with South Africa, and the UAE in a distant second and third place. China was the destination of 48% of DR Congo's exports in 2023, followed by Singapore and Hong Kong. China is also the most important supplier (22% of Congo's total imports in 2023).
The economy is mainly driven by mineral extraction including copper, cobalt, zinc, manganese, diamonds, and others. The manufacturing sector contributes about 18% to Congo's GDP (2023) and centres around consumption industries (processed food and beverages, cigarettes, cloth, leather, etc.) and supply industries (including spinning and weaving, chemicals, and machinery).
Because DR Congo's most important exports enter the EU duty-free under the normal tariff regime, less than 1% of total EU imports from the country are imported using EBA preferences. The preference utilisation rate, which represents the ratio of preferential imports to GSP eligible imports, stood at 14% in 2023.
Total trade with the EU amounted to €1.4 billion in 2023, 4.8% of DR Congo's total trade (rank 5). With a share of 0.9%, the EU only plays a minor role as an export market for DR Congo. Imports from the EU, however, are of higher importance and amounted to almost €1.3 billion in 2023 (8.2% of total imports), making it the fourth most important supplier to the country.
Less than 1% of the Democratic Republic of Congo's exports to the EU market are eligible for EBA preferences.
The Democratic Republic of Congo currently has a very low preference utilisation rate of 12.4%.
Despite a constantly improving preference utilisation rate throughout the years and a record increase in eligible products in 2018, only a fraction of total imports from the Democratic Republic of Congo is imported using EBA preferences. The increase in eligible imports can be attributed to increased export volumes of cobalt oxides, which are almost entirely exported under the EBA. Copper and diamonds account for the majority of exports but already benefit from zero most favoured nation duties. In 2020, only fruits and vegetables and prepared foodstuffs were imported using EBA preferences, though the utilisation rate was at 1.3%. In 2022 the rate improved by 10%.
Exports under the EBA remain highly concentrated on few products. The Democratic Republic of Congo traditionally exports mainly processed foods and beverages, mineral and agricultural products using EBA preferences.
The Democratic Republic of Congo, as a beneficiary of the EBA scheme, is not obligated to ratify any conventions to be able to benefit from preferential access to the EU market. Nonetheless, Congo has ratified all 15 core international conventions on human and labour rights. This includes 7 UN human rights conventions and 8 ILO conventions on labour standards. Additionally, Congo has ratified 8 conventions on environmental protection and 4 conventions on good governance aspects.
Access all info about EU-Democratic Republic of Congo relations on the International Partnerships website.