Eritrea is a beneficiary of the EU's "Everything but Arms" (EBA) scheme for least developed countries. With a per-capita income of about $ 610 (2011, most recent data), the World Bank classifies Eritrea as a low-income economy. Preferential imports from Eritrea have been comparatively constant in recent years and amounted to about €5,2 million in 2022.
The “Everything but Arms”(EBA) scheme is a permanent arrangement covering Least Developed Countries (LDC’s) as classified by the United Nations. This arrangement enables duty-free and quota-free access for all products (7200 products in total) originating in LDC’s except for arms and ammunition. Different from the Standard GSP and GSP+, LDC’s are not excluded from the scheme if they benefit from other preferential arrangements.
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Eritrea is strategically located in Eastern Africa bordering the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. It currently possesses two ports along its over 1000 km long coastline. Likewise, Eritrea is in close proximity to major oil markets on the Arabian peninsula.
Zinc and copper ores dominate Eritrea's export sector, followed by apparel and clothing articles and malt beer.
Eritrea's most important trading partners are China and the UAE, which together account for a share of 24,1%. Switzerland and United Arab Emirates are the most important export markets for Eritrean products. Most imports originate from China followed by EU.
Small-scale farming, mainly for subsistence purposes, remains the cornerstone of the Eritrean economy and while it only contributes a small fraction to the GDP it supports the livelihood of about 80% of the population. The most prominent products are different types of grain, sesame seeds, vegetables, cotton, tobacco, and sisal. The manufacturing sector mainly centres around the processing of agricultural products, textiles, and leather as well as mining.
About 93% of overall EU imports from Eritrea make use of EBA preferences. The preference utilisation rate, which represents the ratio of preferential imports to GSP eligible imports, currently stands at 99%.
Total trade with the EU amounted to € 461 million in 2021. With a share of 8.1%, the EU is Eritrea's third most important trading partner. This, however, is mainly driven by the importance of European imports which make up more than 9.5% of total imports.
A very large share of Eritrea's exports to the EU market are eligible for preferences granted by the EU's EBA arrangement.
Eritrea makes considerable use of the EBA. The preference utilisation rate currently stands at 82.3%.
Eritrea’s preference utilisation rate has been comparatively high over the last years, more than 90% of eligible export products take advantage of EBA preferences. This is mainly driven by a high uptake of preferences in the most prominent export sections, textiles and clothing. However, only one product section, apparel, was imported using EBA preferences in 2022.
Eritrea’s exports under the EBA remain highly concentrated on apparel and textiles, which account for 100% of all exports under the EBA.
The preferential access to the EU market granted by the EBA scheme is not bound to the ratification of international conventions. Nonetheless, Eritrea maintains a very high level of ratification of international conventions. The country has ratified 14 out of 15 core conventions on human rights and labour standards. Furthermore, Eritrea has ratified 8 international conventions on the protection of the environment and 3 good governance conventions.
Access all info about EU-Eritrea relations on the International Partnerships website: https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/countries/eritrea_en
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