What the Democratic Republic of the Congo buys, and from whom.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo imported USD 9.3bn of manufactured and processed goods in 2024, down 12 per cent on 2022. These are its twenty largest source countries. 2 of them ship enough, across enough product lines, to have a lane page of their own.
Trade year 2024, compared with 2022.
The twenty countries the Democratic Republic of the Congo imports most from.
A lane page is written where the source ships USD 1bn or more a year across at least 50 product lines worth USD 1m each. For what the Democratic Republic of the Congo is best placed to make itself, see Made here: Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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1
China
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports45 per centChangedown 16 per cent on 2022USD 4.2bnin 2024 -
2
South Africa
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports11 per centChangedown 14 per cent on 2022USD 1.1bnin 2024 -
3
Zambia
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports9 per centChangedown 12 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 821min 2024 -
4
India
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports6 per centChangedown 12 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 511min 2024 -
5
Uganda
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports4 per centChangeup 24 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 387min 2024 -
6
Belgium
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports3 per centChangedown 10 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 320min 2024 -
7
Tanzania
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports2 per centChangeup 18 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 212min 2024 -
8
France
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports2 per centChangedown 2 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 184min 2024 -
9
Kenya
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports2 per centChangeup 29 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 168min 2024 -
10
Japan
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports2 per centChangeup 42 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 157min 2024 -
11
Turkey
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports1 per centChangeup 60 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 121min 2024 -
12
United States
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports1 per centChangeup 64 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 114min 2024 -
13
Namibia
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports1 per centChangedown 2 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 108min 2024 -
14
Angola
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports1 per centChangenew since 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 104min 2024 -
15
Germany
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports1 per centChangedown 1 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 94min 2024 -
16
Italy
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports1 per centChangeup 60 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 78min 2024 -
17
Netherlands
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports1 per centChangedown 45 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 55min 2024 -
18
Brazil
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports1 per centChangedown 5 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 54min 2024 -
19
Finland
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports1 per centChangeup 15 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 49min 2024 -
20
United Kingdom
Share of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's imports1 per centChangedown 5 per cent on 2022Lane pageunder the lane thresholdUSD 49min 2024
What crossed the border, what it was worth, and what it weighed.
Every figure on this page is from CEPII's BACI file, which reconciles what each pair of countries reports to the UN about the same shipment. Trade year 2024, compared with 2022. A line is one six-digit customs heading (HS 2022). Values are in US dollars at the border; growth is in current dollars, so part of any change is price, not volume.
Unit value. Unit values are customs values per tonne, declared at the border, not product prices. It is the value of a line divided by its declared weight, so it mixes grades, models and qualities under one heading. It is shown only where the weight is recorded, at least three source countries of USD 100k or more ship the line to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a weight, and the figure sits within a factor of five of the middle of those sources. Outside that band it is treated as a recording problem and left out.
Share is China's part of everything the Democratic Republic of the Congo imported in that line, from every source. Sources counts the countries that shipped any of it.
Scope. Manufactured and processed goods, customs chapters 16 to 96, without ores, fuels, precious metals, scrap, raw farm output and one-off capital and defence purchases: the same rule as the Made here pages.
A record of trade, not a shopping list.
What this record does not say: what sells at retail, what margin a trade leaves, how crowded the marketplaces are, or how much of a flow is re-exported through entrepots such as Hong Kong and Singapore.
A large line is not proof of an opening, and a lower unit value from another country is not proof the goods are the same. Tariffs, standards, freight, payment terms, lead times and the plain fact that a supplier is good at it are all invisible here. Nothing on this page is a forecast, a recommendation or a promise. No supplier company is named, because the record holds none.
Source: CEPII BACI, HS22, version 202601. Edition of 2026-11-03.