Madagascar
As a least-developed country (LDC), Madagascar is a beneficiary of the EU's "Everything but Arms" (EBA) arrangement. The World Bank classifies Madagascar as a low-income economy with a per-capita income of $506 in 2023. Total EU imports from Madagascar amounted to about €1.1 billion in 2023, and preferential imports to €341 million.
What is the EBA?
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.
At a glance: EU preferential imports from EBA beneficiary countries (2023, € million)
31.2M (2023)
Population
Semi-Presidential Republic
Government
3.8% (2023)
GDP Growth
9.9% (2023)
Inflation
$ 15.8B (2023)
GDP
Facts about Madagascar's economy
Strategic Location
Madagascar is an island economy located off the South-Eastern coast of the African continent. It is strategically well located along the Mozambique Channel, which still plays an important role for big commercial vessels (e.g. oil tankers) unable to navigate through the Strait of Hormuz.
Export Products
Madagascar's most important export products in 2023 were nickel, garments, vanilla, cloves, shrimp, as well as metals such as titanium, gold and cobalt.
Trade Partners
The EU (20% of total trade in 2023) and China (16%) account for the largest share of Madagascar's overall trade. The EU is the most important export market, followed by Japan, China and the US; and China is the most important supplier, followed by the EU and Oman. Regional trade, for example with South Africa, plays a limited role.
Economic Structure
Madagascar's economy is largely dependent on agriculture and its natural resource wealth. The country is known for its high-quality vanilla but also cultivates rice, bananas, sugarcane and other fruits and vegetables. In recent years, the fisheries sector expanded significantly, benefitting from the richness in fish in the surrounding waters. Furthermore, the country has a number of mineral deposits including titanium, nickel and cobalt. The industrial sector focusses on textiles and footwear, pulp and paper, wood, and fertilisers.
Vanilla Production
Madagascar is the world’s largest producer of natural vanilla and produces about 60% of the global vanilla supply.
Trade with the EU
Total trade with the EU summed up to almost €1.7 billion in 2023. The EU is Madagascar's most important trading partner and its largest export destination.
Madagascar and the EU
Imports from Madagascar by product section (2023, € million)
Imports from Madagascar over time (€ million)
MADAGASCAR AND THE EU GSP
Economic Impact
71%
The large majority of Madagascar's exports to the EU were eligible for EBA preferences in 2023.
48%
Madagascar's preference utilisation rate in 2023.
91%
Share of zero-duty imports from Madagascar.
Preference utilisation and export diversification
EU imports from Madagascar (€ million)
Preference utilisation (%) vs. total eligible imports (in € million)
EU imports of EBA preference-eligible products from Madagascar steadily increased from 2013 to 2018. Since then, they have become volatile - first dropping in 2019 and 2020, before rebounding strongly in 2022 and then decreasing again sharply in 2023. The EBA complements Madagascar's preferential access to the EU under its Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU: the EBA preference utilisation rate in 2023 was 48%, the highest by far in the period considered. Garments and food preparations in particular made above-average use of the EBA preferences.
The largest product sections under EBA (€ million, 2023)
Madagascar’s economy is comparatively well-diversified, despite the low usage of EBA preferences. The country is among the beneficiaries which traded the largest number of tariff lines following the update of the GSP regulation in 2014. The graph visualises the considerable difference between eligible exports and those that made use of EBA preferences.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The preferential access to the EU market granted by the EBA scheme is not bound to the ratification of international conventions. Madagascar maintains a very high level of ratification of international conventions. It has ratified 14 out of 15 core international conventions on human rights and labour standards. Furthermore, Madagascar has ratified 8 conventions on environmental protection and 4 conventions on good governance.
Core international conventions on human rights and labour standards
Ratified
- International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969)
- International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976)
- International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (1976)
- Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (1981)
- Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1987)
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990)
- Convention concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour, No 29 (1930)
- Convention concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, No 87 (1948)
- Convention concerning the Application of the Principles of the Right to Organise and to Bargain Collectively, No 98 (1949)
- Convention concerning Equal Remuneration of Men and Women Workers for Work of Equal Value, No 100 (1951)
- Convention concerning the Abolition of Forced Labour, No 105 (1957)
- Convention concerning Discrimination in Respect of Employment and Occupation, No 111 (1958)
- Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, No 138 (1973)
- Convention concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, No 182 (1999)
Not Ratified
- Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948)
Additional Conventions
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (1973)
- Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (1987)
- Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal (1989)
- Convention on Biological Diversity (1992)
- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1992)
- Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (2000)
- Stockholm Convention on persistent Organic Pollutants (2001)
- Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1998)
- United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961)
- United Nations Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971)
- United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988)
- United Nations Convention against Corruption (2004)
EU-Madagascar Bilateral Development Cooperation
DG INTPA
Access all info about EU-Madagascar relations on the International Partnerships website.